Biliary tract cancers, encompassing the gallbladder, extrahepatic bile ducts and ampulla of Vater, are rare but highly fatal malignancies. Gallstones, the predominant risk factor for biliary cancers, are linked with hyperlipidemia. As part of a populationbased case-control study conducted in Shanghai, China, we examined the associations of serum lipid levels with biliary stones and cancers. We included 460 biliary cancer cases (264 gallbladder, 141 extrahepatic bile duct, and 55 ampulla of Vater), 981 biliary stone cases and 858 healthy individuals randomly selected from the population. Participants completed an in-person interview and gave overnight fasting blood samples. Participants in the highest quintile of triglycerides (≥160 mg/dl) had a 1.4-fold risk of biliary stones (95% CI 5 1.1-1.9), a 1.9-fold risk of gallbladder cancer (95% CI 5 1.3-2.8), and a 4.8-fold risk of bile duct cancer (95% CI 5 2.8-8.1), compared to the reference group (third quintile: 90-124 mg/dl). Participants in the lowest quintile of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (<30 mg/dl) had a 4.2-fold risk of biliary stones (95% CI 5 3.0-6.0), an 11.6-fold risk of gallbladder cancer (95% CI 5 7.3-18.5), and a 16.8-fold risk of bile duct cancer (95% CI 5 9.1-30.9), relative to the reference group (third quintile: 40-49 mg/dl). In addition, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and apolipoprotein A (apo A) were inversely associated with biliary stones; whereas low levels as well as high levels of total cholesterol, LDL, apo A and apolipoprotein B (apo B) were associated with excess risks of biliary tract cancers. Our findings support a role for serum lipids in gallstone development and biliary carcinogenesis. ' 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: serum lipid levels; gallstones; biliary tract cancer Biliary tract cancers, consisting of tumors of the gallbladder, extrahepatic bile ducts and ampulla of Vater, are rare but highly fatal malignancies. 1,2 Gallstones are the most important known risk factor for all three biliary tract cancer subsites. Specifically, cholesterol gallstones (composed mainly of cholesterol) and mixed gallstones (composed of both cholesterol and bilirubin) are most strongly associated with gallbladder cancer. 2,3 Furthermore, cholesterol gallstones and gallbladder cancer share a number of putative risk factors, including obesity, high fat diet and hyperlipidemia. 2,4 Hyperlipidemia is generally characterized by high serum levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density-lipoprotein (LDL), and low levels of high-density-lipoprotein (HDL). High triglycerides and low HDL have been most consistently associated with gallstones, whereas the associations of total cholesterol and LDL with gallstones are less consistent. [5][6][7] Cholesterol gallstone pathogenesis involves cholesterol saturation of the bile duct due to the hypersecretion of cholesterol from the liver 8 ; however, the exact role of individual lipids, lipoproteins and apolipoproteins is less clear.Given the relationship between hyperlipidemia and gallsto...