ORIGINAL RESEARCH Ethnic Disparities in the Risk of Colorectal Adenomas Associated with Lipid Levels: a Retrospective Multiethnic Study Ashley H. Davis-Yadley & Seth Lipka & Huafeng Shen & Valerie Devanney & Supreeya Swarup & Alex Barnowsky & Jeff Silpe & Josh Mosdale & Qinshi Pan & Svetlana Fridlyand & Suhas Sreeharshan & Albin Abraham & Prakash Viswanathan & Bhuma Krishnamachari # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014 Abstract Background Although data exists showing that uncontrolled lipid levels in white and black patients is associated with colorectal adenomas, there are currently no studies looking only at the Hispanic population. Purpose With the rapid increase in the Hispanic population, we aimed to look at their risk of colorectal adenomas in association with lipid levels. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 1473 patients undergo- ing colonoscopy from 2009 to 2011 at a community hospital. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-squared for cat- egorical variables and t test for continuous variables with age-, gender-, and race-adjusted odds ratios. Unconditional logistic regression model was used to estimate 95 % confidence intervals (CI). SAS 9.3 software was used to perform all statistical analysis. Results In our general population, there was an association with elevated triglyceride levels greater than 150 and presence of multiple colorectal adenomas with odds ratio (OR) 1.60 (1.03, 2.48). There was an association with proximal colon adenomas and cholesterol levels between 200 and 239 with OR 1.57 (1.07, 2.30), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels of greater than 130 with OR 1.54 (1.04, 2.30). There was no association between high-density lipoproteins (HDL) levels and colorectal adenomas. The Hispanic population showed no statistical correlation between elevated triglycer- ides, cholesterol, or LDL with the presence, size, location, or multiplicity of colorectal adenomas. Conclusions We found a significant correlation between ele- vated lipid levels and colorectal adenomas in white and black patients; however, there was no such association in the His- panic population. This finding can possibly be due to envi- ronmental factors such as dietary, colonic flora, or genetic susceptibility, which fosters further investigation and research. Keywords Lipid levels . Hispanics . Colorectal adenoma Introduction Colorectal carcinoma is a formidable health care problem, currently the 3rd leading cause of cancer-related death, with 50,310 people in the USA expected to die of colorectal cancer in 2014 [1]. One in 20 people are estimated to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer at some point in their lifetime, with 90 % of new cases occurring in those aged 50 years or older [1]. Screening exams, such as colonoscopies, were designed to detect and remove pre-malignant or malignant lesions in asymptomatic people. Since most colorectal cancers follow a unique adenoma-carcinoma sequence, where the colonic A. H. Davis-Yadley (*) : V. Devanney Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA e-mail: adavis3@health.usf.edu S. Lipka Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA H. Shen : S. Swarup : A. Barnowsky : J. Silpe : J. Mosdale : Q. Pan : S. Fridlyand : S. Sreeharshan Department of Internal Medicine, Nassau University Medical Center Associated with North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Care System, East Meadow, NY, USA A. Abraham : P. Viswanathan Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Nassau University Medical Center Associated with North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Care System, East Meadow, NY, USA B. Krishnamachari Department of Internal Medicine, NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury, NY, USA J Gastrointest Canc DOI 10.1007/s12029-014-9671-2