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Table 2 Associations (multivariable a adjusted incidence RRs) between alcohol consumption and risk of subtypes of head-neck cancer; Netherlands Cohort Study (NLCS), 1986 – 2003

From: Alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and the risk of subtypes of head-neck cancer: results from the Netherlands Cohort Study

  

Subcohort

Head-neck cancer cases

   

Overall

Subtypes

  
     

OCCb

 

OHPCb

 

LCb

  
 

Categorical median

Person time at risk (years)

No. of cases

RR (95% CI)

No. of cases

RR (95% CI)

No. of cases

RR (95% CI)

No. of cases

RR (95% CI)

Pfor heterogeneity

Alcohol consumption (grams ethanol/day)

Abstainers

0

15 255

49

1 (reference)

12

1 (reference)

11

1 (reference)

26

1 (reference)

0.86

>0 to <5

2

19 008

67

1.11 (0.75-1.65)

17

1.25 (0.59-2.65)

14

1.06 (0.47-2.40)

36

1.03 (0.60-1.77)

 

5 to <15

9

14 468

72

1.15 (0.77-1.71)

19

1.91 (0.91-4.03)

12

0.90 (0.38-2.13)

40

0.94 (0.56-1.58)

 

15 to <30

22

9 961

92

1.52 (1.02-2.27)

30

3.88 (1.86-8.12)

13

0.99 (0.41-2.38)

49

1.10 (0.66-1.83)

 

≥30

40

5 659

115

2.74 (1.85-4.06)

32

6.39 (3.13-13.03)

33

3.52 (1.69-7.36)

48

1.54 (0.91-2.60)

 

P for trendc

   

<0.001

 

<0.001

 

<0.001

 

0.05

 

Continuous, 10 gram

           

ethanol/day increments

           

Overall

 

64 352

395

1.20 (1.12-1.27)

110

1.28 (1.18-1.39)

83

1.27 (1.16-1.38)

199

1.10 (1.02-1.18)

0.18

Men

 

30 169

314

1.19 (1.12-1.27)

65

1.27 (1.17-1.38)

61

1.27 (1.16-1.39)

187

1.10 (1.03-1.19)

 

Women

 

34 183

81

1.40 (1.18-1.65)

45

1.58 (1.33-1.87)

22

1.31 (0.91-1.87)

12

0.85 (0.46-1.59)

 

P for interactiond

   

0.02

 

0.004

 

0.68

 

0.67

 

Alcohol consumption (grams ethanol/day) stable users e

Abstainers

0

11 810

38

1 (reference)

9

1 (reference)

9

1 (reference)

20

1 (reference)

1.00

>0 to <5

2

11 813

36

0.98 (0.60-1.61)

12

1.65 (0.68-4.01)

7

0.86 (0.30-2.41)

17

0.72 (0.35-1.46)

 

5 to <15

9

8 749

38

0.96 (0.58-1.59)

9

1.68 (0.63-4.47)

8

0.89 (0.32-2.47)

21

0.72 (0.37-1.40)

 

15 to <30

22

5 293

45

1.27 (0.76-2.11)

12

3.20 (1.25-8.19)

6

0.72 (0.23-2.26)

27

0.96 (0.50-1.83)

 

≥30

42

3 047

69

2.90 (1.78-4.73)

17

7.50 (3.15-17.88)

20

3.46 (1.46-8.20)

31

1.57 (0.82-3.02)

 

P for trend

   

<0.001

 

<0.001

 

0.001

 

0.03

 

Continuous, 10 grams

 

39712

226

1.26 (1.16-1.36)

59

1.37 (1.24-1.52)

50

1.35 (1.20-1.52)

116

1.16 (1.04-1.28)

0.72

ethanol/day increments

           

Alcoholic beverages (glasses/day) f

Beer

           

No beer

0

43 519

183

1 (reference)

59

1 (reference)

36

1 (reference)

87

1 (reference)

0.84

>0- < 1

0.2

16 408

129

0.94 (0.71-1.24)

34

1.10 (0.65-1.86)

24

0.98 (0.54-1.76)

69

0.85 (0.60-1.22)

 

1- < 2

1.4

2 853

37

1.12 (0.72-1.74)

8

1.17 (0.49-2.77)

6

1.04 (0.41-2.66)

23

1.19 (0.71-2.01)

 

≥2

3.4

1 554

46

1.39 (0.83-2.34)

9

0.99 (0.34-2.82)

17

2.48 (1.03-5.98)

20

1.30 (0.69-2.46)

 

P for trend

   

0.14

 

0.95

 

0.03

 

0.20

 

Continuous, 1

 

64 335

395

1.07 (0.97-1.19)

110

0.97 (0.80-1.16)g

83

1.19 (1.01-1.40)

199

1.08 (0.96-1.23)

0.07

glass/day increments

           

Wine

           

No wine

0

30 263

197

1 (reference)

44

1 (reference)

38

1 (reference)

114

1 (reference)

0.93

>0- < 1

0.2

25 975

132

0.88 (0.67-1.14)

40

1.07 (0.67-1.71)

33

1.01 (0.59-1.75)

57

0.74 (0.52-1.05)

 

1- < 2

1.4

5 277

39

0.95 (0.63-1.44)

14

1.31 (0.67-2.55)

5

0.52 (0.19-1.39)

20

1.07 (0.63-1.83)

 

≥2

2.6

2 751

24

0.56 (0.29-1.07)

11

0.93 (0.34-2.57)

7

0.52 (0.15-1.81)g

6

0.39 (0.15-0.99)

 

P for trend

   

0.15

 

0.93

 

0.16

 

0.21

 

Continuous, 1

 

64 265

392

0.88 (0.74-1.05)

109

0.89 (0.69-1.16)

83

0.86 (0.64-1.17)

197

0.88 (0.68-1.14)

0.26

glass/day increments

           

Liquor

           

No liquor

0

33 299

137

1 (reference)

40

1 (reference)

34

1 (reference)

63

1 (reference)

0.44

>0- < 1

0.2

23 492

133

1.09 (0.84-1.43)

31

1.10 (0.67-1.80)

23

0.86 (0.48-1.53)

78

1.17 (0.81-1.67)

 

1- < 2

1.9

5 370

67

1.09 (0.76-1.57)

18

1.65 (0.87-3.15)

12

0.79 (0.39-1.62)

37

1.08 (0.67-1.74)

 

≥2

2.8

2 115

56

1.18 (0.71-1.95)

20

2.26 (1.02-4.99)

14

0.83 (0.33-2.13)

20

0.95 (0.47-1.93)

 

P for trend

   

0.61

 

0.03

 

0.64

 

0.83

 

Continuous, 1

 

64 275

393

1.01 (0.86-1.18)

109

1.18 (0.89-1.56)

83

0.89 (0.68-1.15)

198

0.98 (0.80-1.21)

0.25

glass/day increments

           
  1. aAdjusted for age (years), sex, cigarette smoking (status (never/former/current), frequency (continuous; centered), and duration (continuous; centered)).
  2. bOCC: oral cavity cancer; OHPC: oro-/hypopharyngeal cancer; LC: laryngeal cancer.
  3. cTests for dose-response trends were assessed by fitting ordinal variables as continuous terms in the Cox proportional hazards model.
  4. d P Value for interaction between sex and alcohol consumption, based on cross-product terms in the Cox proportional hazards model and Wald test.
  5. eSubjects who had not changed their continuous alcohol consumption habits in the 5 years before baseline: for “beer” and “other alcoholic beverages”, participants could indicate whether 5 years before baseline they drunk (1) more than, (2) equal amounts of or (3) less than at baseline; the fourth answer option was (4) “I never use this”.
  6. fAdditionally adjusted for continuous ethanol intake (g ethanol/day).
  7. gProportional hazards assumption was possibly violated for the exposure variable, and there was a statistically significant interaction with time.
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