Abstract

For both males and females the age-standardised prevalence of asymptomatic gallstones found at necropsy in 15 countries correlated strongly with age-standardised mortality from cancers of the uterus, large bowel, and stomach. When deaths from cholecystitis were used as another measure of the frequency of gallstones similar positive correlations were observed across 28 countries. The results suggest that cholelithiasis and several common cancers share similar epidemiological and perhaps metabolic factors.