Serum cholesterol levels in carcinoma breast.

A total of 56 histologically confirmed cases of carcinoma breast were analysed in terms of serum cholesterol levels, age, religion and dietary status of the patients. Age-matched controls from the same geographical area were chosen from the relatives/attendants of patients, to rule out the possible influence of environment, socio-economic, cultural and dietary practices. The mean serum cholesterol level of patients was 193.07 mg/dl (+/- 36.39), as compared to 216.32 mg/dl (+/- 30.51) in the controls (P less than 0.001). A significant difference in the blood cholesterol levels between non-vegetarian and vegetarian patients was also observed (P less than 0.001), as also between vegetarian and non-vegetarian patients and the controls (P greater than 0.025).