Fig 1.
Flow diagram of study selection.
Flow chart shows literature search and selection for prospective cohort studies of serum lipids in relation to breast cancer risk. TC = total cholesterol; HDL-C = high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C = low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; TG = and triglycerides.
Table 1.
Characteristics of 15 prospective cohort studies of serum lipids and breast cancer included in this meta-analysis.
Fig 2.
Forest plot of the highest vs. lowest categories of serum TC levels and breast cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risk estimates (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI); diamond indicates the overall relative risk with its 95% confidence interval.
Fig 3.
Forest plot of the highest vs. lowest categories of serum HDL-C levels and breast cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risk estimates (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI); diamond indicates the overall relative risk with its 95% confidence interval.
Fig 4.
Forest plot of the highest vs. lowest categories of serum LDL-C levels and breast cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risk estimates (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI); diamond indicates the overall relative risk with its 95% confidence interval.
Fig 5.
Forest plot of the highest vs. lowest categories of serum TG levels and breast cancer risk.
Squares indicate study-specific relative risk estimates (size of the square reflects the study-specific statistical weight); horizontal lines indicate 95% confidence intervals (CI); diamond indicates the overall relative risk with its 95% confidence interval.
Table 2.
Stratified meta-analyses of three lipid components and breast cancer risk.