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2016
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A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk

BACKGROUND: It is still inconclusive whether alcohol consumption affects the risk of thyroid cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis of available epidemiological data to address this issue.

RESULTS: Compared with nondrinkers, the pooled relative risks (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidential intervals (CIs) of thyroid cancer were 0.80 (95% CI 0.71-0.90) for any drinkers, 0.81 (95% CI 0.70-0.93) for light and 0.71 (95% CI 0.63-0.79) for moderate drinkers. The dose-response analysis suggested that there is no evidence of a dose-risk relationship between alcohol intaking and thyroid cancer risk (P = 0.112).

METHODS: Eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMbase databases. A total of 24 studies, included 9,990 cases with thyroid cancer, were included in this meta-analysis. We defined light alcohol intake as = one drink/day and moderate as >one drink/day. The summary risk estimates were calculated by the random effects model. A dose-response analysis was also conducted for modeling the dose-risk relation.

CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis confirmed an inverse association between alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk. Further studies are needed to better understand the potential mechanisms underlying this association.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Xiaofei Wang; Wenli Cheng; Jingdong Li; Jingqiang Zhu

  • Issue

    Oncotarget. 2016 Jun 30. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.10352. [Epub ahead of print] Review.

  • Published Date

    2016

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