Geographic Correlations Between Cancer Mortality Rates and Alcohol-Tobacco Consumption in the United States 2

Abstract

Average annual age-adjusted cancer mortality rates for 1950-67 were correlated with per-capita consumption of cigarettes, spirits, wine, and beer as estimated from tax receipts in 41 States of the United States in 1960. These correlations were made for cancers of 19 sites for white males and of 20 sites for white females. Multiple regression analyses were used to estimate the simultaneous effects on cancer mortality of State-to-State variation in the urban component of the population and in the consumption of spirits, beer, and cigarettes. Respiratory cancers were related to cigarette consumption, certain cancers of the upper alimentary tract to consumption of spirits, and cancers of the stomach, large bowel, kidney, bladder (for men), and breast (for women) to consumption of beer. The strongest single association was between rectal cancer and beer consumption, a result found also with similar data for 24 other countries. The hazards of attempting to draw sound scientific inferences from such data are acknowledged.