Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are associated with malignant intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms: A multicenter study

BACKGROUND: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) can potentially undergo malignant transformation. Studies have shown that high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) was associated with the risk of cancer. In this study, the association between HDL-c and the incidence of malignancy in IPMNs was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 226 patients with histologically proven IPMNs who underwent surgery were included in the present study. Patients were assigned to a training group (n = 151) and validation group (n = 75). Patients’ demographic information, clinical data, and histopathological evaluation findings were obtained from medical records. Malignant IPMNs were defined as lesions that showed high grade dysplasia and invasive carcinoma. Logistic regression analyses were used to show the association between HDL-c and malignant IPMNs. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to analyze predictive performance. RESULTS: The prevalence of low HDL-c levels was higher in patients with malignant IPMNs than in those with non-malignant IPMNs (P < 0.01) in both the training group and validation group. The prevalence of malignant IPMNs decreased with an increase in HDL-c levels both in patients with all types of IPMNs, as well as in those with branch-duct IPMNs (BD-IPMNs).Logistic analysis showed that low HDL-c levels were associated with malignant IPMNs (odds ratio (OR) = 20.56, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 2.58–163.64, P < 0.01) in all types of IPMNs and BD-IPMNs (OR = 17.6, 95 %CI: 1.16–268.46, P = 0.02 ).The predictive performance of mural nodules plus low HDL-c levels was higher than that of mural nodules alone or mural nodules plus cyst size for the identification of malignant BD-IPMNs. CONCLUSIONS: HDL-c levels may serve a potential biomarker for identifying malignant IPMNs and improve the predictive ability of malignancy in BD-IPMNs.