Table II.

Baseline plasma CRP levels of colorectal cancer cases and matched controls: SMHS (2002–06)^a

	CRP levels (μg/ml)		Difference (%)	P
	Cases	Controls
All colorectal cancers (288 sets)
Geometric mean (95% CI)	1.15 (1.01–1.30)	0.75 (0.69–0.82)	53.3	<0.001**
Median (25th–75th percentile)	1.07 (0.54–2.42)	0.75 (0.36–1.68)	42.7	<0.001***
Colon cancer (172 sets)
Geometric mean (95% CI)	1.23 (1.04–1.46)	0.72 (0.64–0.81)	70.8	<0.001**
Median (25th–75th percentile)	1.32 (0.53–2.71)	0.74 (0.34–1.56)	78.4	<0.001***
Rectal cancer (116 sets)
Geometric mean (95% CI)	1.03 (0.85–1.25)	0.80 (0.70–0.91)	28.8	0.033**
Median (25th–75th percentile)	1.01 (0.58–2.06)	0.76 (0.37–1.78)	32.9	0.045***

^aAdjusted for matched set and age at sample collection.

**P values were derived from two-way analysis of variance for the case–control difference using log-transformed CRP data,

***P values were derived from Wilcoxon signed rank sum test for case–control difference.