The influence of lipid and lifestyle factors upon correlations between highly prevalent organochlorine compounds in patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer

We aimed to analyse the influence of cholesterol and triglycerides, and of tobacco, coffee and alcohol consumption upon correlations between serum concentrations of organochlorine compounds (OCs) in patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer (EPC). Incident cases of EPC diagnosed in eastern Spain were prospectively identified (N = 144). OCs were analysed by high-resolution gas chromatography with electron-capture detection. A strong correlation was observed between hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) (Spearman's ρ = 0.758). β-HCH showed ρ > 0.4 with p,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDE, PCB138 and PCB153 (all p < 0.001). Some correlations among compounds were slightly affected by tobacco, coffee or alcohol consumption. We observed a striking diversity of correlation patterns by strata of cholesterol and triglycerides. Most correlations were higher in the lowest category of triglycerides than in the lowest category of cholesterol. Most coefficients above 0.7 were seen in the lowest category of triglycerides (e.g., OC pairs p,p′-DDT and HCB, p,p′-DDT and β-HCH, p,p′-DDE and β-HCH, or HCB and β-HCH). Correlations among OCs may be stronger when concentrations of triglycerides are low than when they are high. This is compatible with a dilution in the early phases of cancer and with a concentration effect as triglycerides become lower in the advanced phases of the disease.