BACKGROUND:The role of alcohol consumption in relation with renal cell carcinoma is still unclear; a few studies have reported a beneficial effect of moderate levels of alcohol consumption, whereas it remains still under debate whether there is a dose-response association.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty observational studies (4 cohort, 1 pooled and 15 case-control) reporting results on at least three levels of alcohol consumption were selected through a combined search with PubMed and EMBASE of articles published before November 2010. Overall relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using random-effects models, and both second-order fractional polynomials and random effect meta-regression models were implemented for the study of dose-risk relation.
RESULTS: The estimated RRs were 0.85 (95% CI: 0.80-0.92) for any alcohol drinking, 0.90 (95% CI: 0.83-0.97) for light drinking (0.01-12.49 g/day), 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71-0.88) for moderate drinking (12.5-49.9 g/day) and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.58-1.39) for heavy drinking (≥50 g/day), respectively.
CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis supports the hypothesis of a negative effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of renal cell cancer.
Written by:
Bellocco R, Pasquali E, Rota M, Bagnardi V, Tramacere I, Scotti L, Pelucchi C, Boffetta P, Corrao G, La Vecchia C. Are you the author?
Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Reference: Ann Oncol. 2012 Mar 7. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1093/annonc/mds022
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22398178
UroToday.com Renal Cancer Section