High Alcohol Intake Not Tied to Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

Moderate alcohol intake linked to lower risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma

THURSDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Higher alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) but not with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) or adjacent tumors of the esophagogastric junction (EGJA), according to research published online March 14 in Gut.

Neal D. Freedman, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues determined the association between alcohol intake and ESCC, EA, and EGJA in participants of 11 Barrett's Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium studies. Data from 1,016 ESCC, 1,821 EA, and 1,837 EGJA cases, and 10,854 controls were analyzed to compute the odds ratio (OR) and risk estimates.

The investigators found that an increase in alcohol intake did not increase the risk of EA or EGJA. High alcohol intake of seven drinks or more per day was not associated with increased risk of EA or EGJA (ORs, 0.97 and 0.77, respectively), but the risk of ESCC increased (OR, 9.62). Moderate alcohol intake (0.5 to less than one drink per day) was associated with decreased risk of EA and EGJA (ORs, 0.63 and 0.78, respectively).

"In contrast to results for ESCC, we observed little evidence for an association between higher alcohol consumption with either EA or EGJA risk. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with reduced EA and EGJA cancer risk, though these findings need to be examined further in future prospective cohort studies," the authors write.

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