ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>In order to investigate whether the presence of distant metastases is associated with serum lipid abnormalities.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The fasting serum lipid profile and various clinicopathological data of 324 breast cancer patients with and without synchronous distant metastases were collected and analyzed. The serum lipid profile, including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was determined. The nutritional status, the serum albumin was measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were carried out to investigate the association of serum lipid profile with distant metastases.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Univariate analysis showed that the distant metastasis rate was significantly higher in the breast cancer patients with an higher level of serum TC, TG, LDL-C, and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio (P < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that higher serum levels of TC, LDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio were independent risk factors for distant metastasis in breast cancer (OR = 2.324, 2.648 and 4.862, respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Hyperlipidemia is significantly associated with the distant metastasis in breast cancer patients. Monitoring of serum lipid profile may be helpful to predict the occurrence of distant metastasis in breast cancer patients.</p>