Alcohol and lung cancer risk among never smokers: A pooled analysis from the international lung cancer consortium and the SYNERGY study Journal Article


Authors: Fehringer, G.; Brenner, D. R.; Zhang, Z. F.; Lee, Y. C. A.; Matsuo, K.; Ito, H.; Lan, Q.; Vineis, P.; Johansson, M.; Overvad, K.; Riboli, E.; Trichopoulou, A.; Sacerdote, C.; Stucker, I.; Boffetta, P.; Brennan, P.; Christiani, D. C.; Hong, Y. C.; Landi, M. T.; Morgenstern, H.; Schwartz, A. G.; Wenzlaff, A. S.; Rennert, G.; McLaughlin, J. R.; Harris, C. C.; Olivo-Marston, S.; Orlow, I.; Park, B. J.; Zauderer, M.; Barros Dios, J. M.; Ruano Raviña, A.; Siemiatycki, J.; Koushik, A.; Lazarus, P.; Fernández-Somoano, A.; Tardon, A.; Le Marchand, L.; Brenner, H.; Saum, K. U.; Duell, E. J.; Andrew, A. S.; Szeszenia-Dabrowska, N.; Lissowska, J.; Zaridze, D.; Rudnai, P.; Fabianova, E.; Mates, D.; Foretova, L.; Janout, V.; Bencko, V.; Holcatova, I.; Pesatori, A. C.; Consonni, D.; Olsson, A.; Straif, K.; Hung, R. J.
Article Title: Alcohol and lung cancer risk among never smokers: A pooled analysis from the international lung cancer consortium and the SYNERGY study
Abstract: It is not clear whether alcohol consumption is associated with lung cancer risk. The relationship is likely confounded by smoking, complicating the interpretation of previous studies. We examined the association of alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk in a large pooled international sample, minimizing potential confounding of tobacco consumption by restricting analyses to never smokers. Our study included 22 case-control and cohort studies with a total of 2548 never-smoking lung cancer patients and 9362 never-smoking controls from North America, Europe and Asia within the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO) and SYNERGY Consortium. Alcohol consumption was categorized into amounts consumed (grams per day) and also modelled as a continuous variable using restricted cubic splines for potential non-linearity. Analyses by histologic sub-type were included. Associations by type of alcohol consumed (wine, beer and liquor) were also investigated. Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with lung cancer risk with evidence most strongly supporting lower risk for light and moderate drinkers relative to non-drinkers (>0–4.9 g per day: OR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.70–0.90; 5–9.9 g per day: OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.69–0.99; 10–19.9 g per day: OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.65–0.96). Inverse associations were found for consumption of wine and liquor, but not beer. The results indicate that alcohol consumption is inversely associated with lung cancer risk, particularly among subjects with low to moderate consumption levels, and among wine and liquor drinkers, but not beer drinkers. Although our results should have no relevant bias from the confounding effect of smoking we cannot preclude that confounding by other factors contributed to the observed associations. Confounding in relation to the non-drinker reference category may be of particular importance. © 2017 UICC
Keywords: lung cancer; alcohol; wine; beer; liquor
Journal Title: International Journal of Cancer
Volume: 140
Issue: 9
ISSN: 0020-7136
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons  
Date Published: 2017-05-01
Start Page: 1976
End Page: 1984
Language: English
DOI: 10.1002/ijc.30618
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC5356930
PUBMED: 28120396
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 3 April 2017 -- Source: Scopus
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  1. Irene Orlow
    247 Orlow
  2. Bernard J Park
    263 Park
  3. Marjorie G Zauderer
    188 Zauderer