Effects of Serum Triglycerides on Prostate Cancer and Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies

Epidemiological studies show conflicting results regarding the link between serum triglyceride and the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis of prospective studies to clarify this association. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database to identify relevant prospective studies of the relationship between serum triglyceride and prostate cancer and breast cancer risk. Study-specific estimates adjusting for potential confounders were combined to evaluate a summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) using a fixed- or random-effects model. A total of 11 prospective studies (619,410 subjects and 15,691 incident prostate cancer patients) and 8 prospective studies (590,878 subjects and 12,177 incident breast cancer patients) were respectively included in our meta-analysis to assess the associations of serum triglyceride with prostate cancer and breast cancer risk. The pooled adjusted RR estimates for prostate cancer and breast cancer for the highest versus the lowest exposure levels of serum triglycerides were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.87–1.04) and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.87–1.00), respectively. Additionally, a dose–response analysis revealed that serum levels of triglycerides were not associated with the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer. We found that serum triglyceride was not related to the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer.