Association Between the Use of Cholesterol-Lowering Prescription Medications and Gastric Cancer (GC): An Analysis from the NHANES Database

The relationship between Gastric cancer (GC) and various risk factors is well-established, but the relationship between use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications and GC remains controversial. This study aimed to investigate further the association between the two utilizing the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database. In this study, the NHANES database (1999-2018) was utilized to explore the association between the use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications and GC. Baseline characteristics were first outlined using data from NHANES, followed by association analysis, risk stratification analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Baseline statistical results indicated that the use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications was significantly associated with GC, both as an independent exposure factor and after adjusting for various covariates. The results of risk stratification analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications and GC (odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 1.07-2.8, p < 0.05). Additionally, ROC analysis result indicated that use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications was a risk predictor for GC and could relatively accurately distinguish between GC patients and non-GC patients (AUC = 0.799). GC was associated with cholesterol, and use of cholesterol-lowering prescription medications was a risk predictor for GC. This provides valuable insights for future research.