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April 5, 2026

Abstract 2541: Circulating sphingolipids and colorectal cancer risk in African American adults

Key Points

Examine the association between circulating sphingolipids and colorectal cancer risk among African Americans.
Nested case-control study design within the Southern Community Cohort Study
Included 373 colorectal cancer cases and 373 matched controls
Used targeted lipidomic analysis to quantify 165 sphingolipids
Applied conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios adjusted for various confounders
Identified significant inverse associations between very-long-chain ceramides and colorectal cancer risk
Found odds ratios ranging from 0.76 to 0.80 for specific ceramides
Some long-chain dihydroceramides showed positive associations with colorectal cancer, but not statistically significant

Abstract

Abstract Background: Obesity-related metabolic dysfunction may promote colorectal carcinogenesis through sphingolipid pathways. Ceramides and related species regulate insulin resistance, inflammation, and intestinal stem-cell proliferation; however, prospective data linking circulating sphingolipids to colorectal cancer (CRC) are limited, particularly in African Americans. Methods: We conducted a nested case-control study within the Southern Community Cohort Study (SCCS) including 373 African American CRC cases and 373 matched control participants. Targeted lipidomic analysis quantified 165 sphingolipids including 78 ceramides, 36 sphingomyelins, 30 neutral glycosphingolipids, 14 glycerophosphocholines, 4 sphingoid base-1-phosphates, 4 sphingoid base homologs, and one ceramide-1-phosphate. Conditional logistic regression estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI per standard deviation (SD), adjusting for age, sex, number of aliquot freeze-thaw cycles, education, body mass index, smoking status, physical activity, energy intake, fiber intake, red/processed meat intake, and alcohol intake. Results: Participants were aged 54±9 years, and 55% were female. In fully adjusted models, several very-long-chain ceramides and one sphingomyelin showed statistically significant inverse associations with CRC risk with adjustment for multiple comparisons at FDR q0.05, including Cer(d16:1/23:0), Cer(d16:1/22:0), Cer(d17:1/22:0), Cer(d17:1/23:0), Cer(d18:2/23:0), and SM(d16:1/23:0) (OR per SD range 0.76 to 0.80, p range 0.001 to 0.009). Some long-chain dihydroceramides and ceramides previously linked to metabolic diseases were positively associated with CRC, though results did not reach statistical significance (e.g., dhCer(d18:0/18:0), OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.98-1.35; Cer(d18:1/18:0), OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.92-1.26). Conclusions: Pre-diagnostic very-long-chain ceramide species showed protective associations with CRC incidence in African Americans. Findings highlight potential metabolically actionable pathways for CRC prevention. Acknowledgement: U01CA202979 and U01CA272529 Citation Format: Sara Salas, Stephanie Richardson, Danxia Yu, Alan Maschek, James E. Cox, Joshua Alvarez, Emmanuel Onyegba, Monowarul Siddique, Steve Moore, Marc Gunter, Anna Ibele, Xiao-Ou Shu, Scott A. Summers, Cornelia M. Ulrich, Mary Playdon. Circulating sphingolipids and colorectal cancer risk in African American adults abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2026; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2026 Apr 17-22; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2026;86(7 Suppl):Abstract nr 2541.

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