Alcohol is a risk factor for cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, oesophagus, colorectum, liver, larynx and female breast, whereas its impact on other cancers remains controversial.
We investigated ...the effect of alcohol on 23 cancer types through a meta-analytic approach. We used dose-response meta-regression models and investigated potential sources of heterogeneity.
A total of 572 studies, including 486 538 cancer cases, were identified. Relative risks (RRs) for heavy drinkers compared with nondrinkers and occasional drinkers were 5.13 for oral and pharyngeal cancer, 4.95 for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, 1.44 for colorectal, 2.65 for laryngeal and 1.61 for breast cancer; for those neoplasms there was a clear dose-risk relationship. Heavy drinkers also had a significantly higher risk of cancer of the stomach (RR 1.21), liver (2.07), gallbladder (2.64), pancreas (1.19) and lung (1.15). There was indication of a positive association between alcohol consumption and risk of melanoma and prostate cancer. Alcohol consumption and risk of Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas were inversely associated.
Alcohol increases risk of cancer of oral cavity and pharynx, oesophagus, colorectum, liver, larynx and female breast. There is accumulating evidence that alcohol drinking is associated with some other cancers such as pancreas and prostate cancer and melanoma.
Despite several studies support a positive association between heavy alcohol consumption and liver cancer risk, a consistent dose–risk relationship has not yet been established. We carried out a ...systematic review and a meta-analysis of the association between alcohol intake and liver cancer occurrence, following the Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. We searched for cohort and nested case–control studies on the general population published before April 2013, using PubMed and EMBASE. Summary meta-analytic relative risks (RRs) were estimated using random-effect models. We included 16 articles (19 cohorts) for a total of 4445 incident cases and 5550 deaths from liver cancer. Compared with non-drinking, the pooled RRs were 0.91 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.81–1.02) for moderate drinking (<3 drinks per day) and 1.16 (95% CI, 1.01–1.34) for heavy drinking (≥3 drinks per day), with significant heterogeneity among studies. The dose–risk curve suggested a linear relationship with increasing alcohol intake in drinkers, with estimated excess risk of 46% for 50g of ethanol per day and 66% for 100g per day. This systematic review suggests a moderate detrimental role of consumption of 3 or more alcoholic drinks per day on liver cancer, and a lack of association with moderate drinking. Our results have to be taken with due caution on account of the possible limitations of the original studies included in the meta-analysis.
There is convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer of the colorectum, breast, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity and pharynx. Most of the data derive from studies ...that focused on the effect of moderate/high alcohol intakes, while little is known about light alcohol drinking (up to 1 drink/day).
We evaluated the association between light drinking and cancer of the colorectum, breast, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity and pharynx, through a meta-analytic approach. We searched epidemiological studies using PubMed, ISI Web of Science and EMBASE, published before December 2010.
We included 222 articles comprising ∼92 000 light drinkers and 60 000 non-drinkers with cancer. Light drinking was associated with the risk of oropharyngeal cancer relative risk, RR = 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06–1.29, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (RR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.09–1.56) and female breast cancer (RR = 1.05; 95% CI 1.02–1.08). We estimated that ∼5000 deaths from oropharyngeal cancer, 24 000 from esophageal SCC and 5000 from breast cancer were attributable to light drinking in 2004 worldwide. No association was found for colorectum, liver and larynx tumors.
Light drinking increases the risk of cancer of oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus and female breast.
Whether an association between alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk exists is an open question. In order to provide a definite quantification of the association between alcohol drinking and ...gastric cancer risk, we conducted a meta-analysis of available data.
We carried out a PubMed search of articles published up to June 2010 and identified 44 case–control and 15 cohort studies, including a total of 34 557 gastric cancer cases. We derived meta-analytic estimates using random-effects models, taking into account correlation between estimates. We carried out a dose–risk analysis using nonlinear random-effects meta-regression models.
Compared with nondrinkers, the pooled relative risk (RR) was 1.07 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–1.13 for alcohol drinkers and 1.20 (95% CI 1.01–1.44) for heavy alcohol drinkers (≥4 drinks per day). The pooled estimates were apparently higher for gastric noncardia (RR for heavy drinkers = 1.17, 95% CI 0.78–1.75) than for gastric cardia (RR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.67–1.47) adenocarcinoma. The dose–risk model estimated a RR of 0.95 (95% CI 0.91–0.99) for 10 g/day and 1.14 (95% CI 1.08–1.21) for 50 g/day.
This meta-analysis provides definite evidence of a lack of association between moderate alcohol drinking and gastric cancer risk. There was, however, a positive association with heavy alcohol drinking.
Acrylamide has been associated to cancer risk in rodents, but data on humans are inconclusive. We thus carried out a critical review and meta-analysis of studies of exposure to acrylamide and cancer.
...We identified 586 publications, 25 presented relevant results. We conducted meta-analyses of studies of dietary intake based on random-effects models by calculating pooled relative risks (RR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI). We combined results of occupational studies according to a fixed-effect model.
The summary RRs for an increase of 10 μg/day of acrylamide intake were close to unity for all the cancers considered, ranging from 0.98 for esophageal cancer to 1.01 for colon, endometrial, ovarian and kidney cancer. None of the estimates was significant. Exclusion of one case–control study from Sweden resulted in a summary RR of kidney cancer of 1.04 (95% CI 1.00–1.08). The combined standardized mortality ratios for high occupational exposure were 1.67 (95% CI 0.83–2.99) for pancreatic cancer and 2.22 (95% CI 0.81–4.84) for kidney cancer.
Available studies consistently suggest a lack of an increased risk of most types of cancer from exposure to acrylamide. The main association that requires further monitoring involves kidney cancer.
Summary
It has been suggested that alcohol intake increases sunburn severity, a major risk factor for cutaneous melanoma (CM). Several epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship ...between alcohol consumption and CM, but the evidence is inconsistent. Therefore, we aimed to quantify this relationship better, using a meta‐analytical approach. The dose–risk relationship was also modelled through a class of flexible nonlinear meta‐regression random effects models. The present meta‐analysis included 16 studies (14 case–control and two cohort investigations) with a total of 6251 cases of CM. The pooled relative risk (RR) for any alcohol drinking compared with no/occasional drinking was 1·20 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·06–1·37. The risk estimate was similar in case–control (RR 1·20, 95% CI 1·01–1·44) and cohort studies (RR 1·26, 95% CI 1·19–1·35). The pooled RR was 1·10 (95% CI 0·96–1·26) for light alcohol drinking (≤ 1 drink per day) and 1·18 (95% CI 1·01–1·40) for moderate‐to‐heavy drinking. The pooled RR from 10 studies adjusting for sun exposure was 1·15 (95% CI 0·94–1·41), while the RR from six unadjusted studies was 1·27 (95% CI 1·20–1·35). No evidence of publication bias was detected. This meta‐analysis of published data reveals that alcohol consumption is positively associated with the risk of CM. However, caution in interpreting these results is required, as residual confounding by sun exposure cannot be ruled out.
What's already known about this topic?
Alcohol drinking increases sunburn severity, a major risk factor for cutaneous melanoma.
Several epidemiological studies have investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption and cutaneous melanoma, but the evidence is inconsistent.
What does this study add?
We found a 20% increased risk of cutaneous melanoma with regular alcohol drinking.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been associated to diabetes and obesity, but a possible association with the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its potential interaction with hepatitis is open to ...discussion.
We analysed data from an Italian case-control study, including 185 HCC cases and 404 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed from unconditional logistic regression models.
Among the MetS components, diabetes and obesity (i.e, body mass index (BMI)≥30 kg m(-2)) were positively associated to HCC risk, with ORs of 4.33 (95% CI, 1.89-9.86) and 1.97 (95% CI, 1.03-3.79), respectively. The ORs for the MetS were 4.06 (95% CI, 1.33-12.38) defining obesity as BMI≥25, and 1.92 (95% CI, 0.38-9.76) defining it as BMI≥30. The risk increased with the number of MetS components, up to an almost four-fold excess risk among subjects with ≥2 MetS factors. Among subjects without chronic infection with hepatitis B and/or C, the OR for those with ≥2 MetS components was over six-fold elevated. There was no consistent association in subjects with serological evidence of hepatitis B and/or C infection.
This study found that the risk of HCC increases with the number of MetS components in subjects not chronically infected with hepatitis viruses.
Background
Epidemiological data on infant feeding practices and allergic diseases are controversial. The purpose of this study was to explore the association of early weaning with the occurrence of ...atopic dermatitis (AD).
Methods
We conducted a matched case–control study on incident physician‐diagnosed AD in early childhood including 451 cases and 451 controls. Data on several factors, including feeding practices, were collected through an interviewer‐administered questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated through logistic regression models, conditioned on study center, age, sex, and period of interview, and adjusted for potential confounders.
Results
Early weaning, defined as the introduction of solid foods at 4 or 5 months of age, was inversely related to the risk of AD, with children weaned at 4 months having lower AD risk (OR = 0.41, 95% CI, 0.20–0.87) compared to those exclusively breastfed. Similar results were observed for weaning started at 5 months of age (OR = 0.39, 95% CI, 0.18–0.83). This association persisted when children with and without family history of allergy were considered separately. Prolonged partial breastfeeding (breastmilk plus milk formulas) was not associated with AD. Consistently, the introduction of a high number of different solid foods reduced the risk of AD (P trend = 0.02 at 4 months of age and P trend = 0.04 at 5 months).
Conclusion
Our data provide evidence against the preventing role of prolonged exclusive (but not partial) breastfeeding in AD occurrence and confirm recent results indicating a beneficial role of early weaning in AD.
There are few and partially discordant data regarding nasopharyngeal rhinovirus (RV) load and viremia, and none of the published studies evaluated the two variables together. The aim of this study ...was to provide new information concerning the clinical relevance of determining nasopharyngeal viral load and viremia when characterising RV infection. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 251 children upon their admission to hospital because of fever and signs and symptoms of acute respiratory infection in order to identify the virus and determine its nasopharyngeal load, and a venous blood sample was taken in order to evaluate viremia. Fifty children (19.9 %) had RV-positive nasopharyngeal swabs, six (12 %) of whom also had RV viremia: RV-C in four cases (66.6 %), and RV-A and RV-B in one case each. The RV nasopharyngeal load was significantly higher in the children with RV viremia (
p
< 0.001), who also had a higher respiratory rate (
p
= 0.02), white blood cell counts (
p
= 0.008) and C-reactive protein levels (
p
= 0.006), lower blood O
2
saturation levels (
P
= 0.005), and more often required O
2
therapy (
p
= 0.009). The presence of RV viremia is associated with a significantly higher nasopharyngeal viral load and more severe disease, which suggests that a high nasopharyngeal viral load is a prerequisite for viremia, and that viremia is associated with considerable clinical involvement.
Various studies reported direct associations between endometrial cancer risk and individual components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS), i.e. obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, but ...only a few epidemiological studies considered the association with MetS overall.
We analyzed data from a case–control study including 454 women with incident endometrial cancer and 798 controls admitted to the same hospitals as cases for acute conditions. Different definitions of MetS were considered, including a combination of self-reported history of diabetes, drug-treated hypertension, drug-treated hyperlipidemia, and various measures of (central) obesity. Odds ratios (ORs) were computed from unconditional logistic regression models, adjusted for major confounding factors.
The multivariate ORs of endometrial cancer were 2.18 for type 2 diabetes, 1.77 for hypertension, 1.20 for hyperlipidemia, between 1.62 and 2.23 for various definitions of central obesity, and 3.83 for women with a body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m2. The risk of endometrial cancer was significantly increased for subjects with MetS, the ORs ranging between 1.67 and 2.77 when waist circumference was included in MetS definition, and 8.40 when BMI was considered instead.
This study indicates a direct association between various MetS components, besides overweight, with the risk of endometrial cancer.
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