Alcohol consumption and renal cell cancer risk in two Italian case–control studies

Abstract

There is some evidence that alcohol consumption is inversely associated with renal cell cancer (RCC), but the issue is still unclear. We investigated the relation using data from two Italian multicentric case-control studies conducted from 1985 to 2004, including a total of 1115 incident, histologically confirmed cases and 2582 controls hospitalised with acute, non-neoplastic conditions. Compared with non-drinkers, the multivariate odds ratios (ORs) of RCC were 0.87 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.73-1.04] for 4 to 8 drinks per day of alcoholic beverages, with a significant inverse trend in risk (P value = 0.01). The ORs were 0.85 (95% CI 0.71-1.02) for wine, 0.84 (95% CI 0.68-1.03) for beer and 0.86 (95% CI 0.70-1.05) for spirits consumption, as compared with abstainers. No trend in risk of RCC emerged with duration (P value = 0.94) and age at starting alcohol consumption (P value = 0.81). Results were consistent in men and women, as well as in strata of age, smoking and body mass index. This pooled analysis found an inverse association between alcohol drinking and RCC. Risks continued to decrease even above eight drinks per day (i.e. >100 g/day) of alcohol intake, with no apparent levelling in risk.