Alcohol Consumption and Lung Cancer Risk in the Environment and Genetics in Lung Cancer Etiology (EAGLE) Study

• Published in: American journal of epidemiology Vol. 171; no. 1; pp. 36 - 44
• Main Authors: Bagnardi, Vincenzo, Randi, Giorgia, Lubin, Jay, Consonni, Dario, Lam, Tram Kim, Subar, Amy F., Goldstein, Alisa M., Wacholder, Sholom, Bergen, Andrew W., Tucker, Margaret A., Decarli, Adriano, Caporaso, Neil E., Bertazzi, Pier Alberto, Landi, Maria Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01-01-2010; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; alcohol drinking; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol Drinking - epidemiology; Alcohol use; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Confidence Intervals; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Ethanol; Female; Humans; Lung cancer; lung neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms - epidemiology; Lung Neoplasms - etiology; Lung Neoplasms - genetics; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Original Contributions; Pneumology; Regression Analysis; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco, tobacco smoking; Toxicology; Tumors of the respiratory system and mediastinum; United States - epidemiology; United States; Italy; risk factors; lung neoplasms; ethanol; alcohol drinking; smoking; case-control studies; Consumption; Lung disease; Ethanol; Respiratory disease; Lung cancer; Tobacco smoking; Risk; Malignant tumor; Case control study; Epidemiology; Alcoholic beverage; Tobacco; Etiology; Risk factor; Bronchus disease; Environment; Genetics; Public health; Cancer
• ISSN: 0002-9262; 1476-6256
• DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp332

The authors investigated the relation between alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk in the Environment and Genetics in Lung Cancer Etiology (EAGLE) Study, a population-based case-control study. Between 2002 and 2005, 2,100 patients with primary lung cancer were recruited from 13 hospitals within the Lombardy region of Italy and were frequency-matched on sex, area of residence, and age to 2,120 randomly selected controls. Alcohol consumption during adulthood was assessed in 1,855 cases and 2,065 controls. Data on lifetime tobacco smoking, diet, education, and anthropometric measures were collected. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for categories of mean daily ethanol intake were calculated using unconditional logistic regression. Overall, both nondrinkers (odds ratio = 1.42, 95% confidence interval: 1.03, 2.01) and very heavy drinkers (≥60 g/day; odds ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 2.07) were at significantly greater risk than very light drinkers (0.1–4.9 g/day). The alcohol effect was modified by smoking behavior, with no excess risk being observed in never smokers. In summary, heavy alcohol consumption was a risk factor for lung cancer among smokers in this study. Although residual confounding by tobacco smoking cannot be ruled out, this finding may reflect interplay between alcohol and smoking, emphasizing the need for preventive measures.