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Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Thyroid Cancer: A Population Based Case-Control Study in Connecticut

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Alcohol and Cancer

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 1032))

Abstract

Background: Studies examining the association between alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk have been inconsistent, in part due to varying types and amounts of alcohol consumption, incomplete information on confounders, and variations in genetic susceptibility in study populations.

Methods: The present study analyzed data from a population-based case-control study in Connecticut in 2010–2011 including 462 histologically confirmed incident thyroid cancer cases and 498 population-based controls. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate associations between alcohol consumption and risk of thyroid cancer. Potential confounding variables were age, gender, race, education, body mass index, family history of cancer among first-degree relatives, history of benign thyroid disease, smoking status, and physical activity.

Results: Ever consumption of alcohol was associated with a reduced risk of thyroid cancer (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54–0.95). The younger age at initiation and increasing duration of alcohol consumption were also associated with a reduced risk of thyroid cancer in a dose-dependent manner (P for trend = 0.041 and 0.0065, respectively). Compared to people who never drank alcohol, people who drank alcohol for >31 years were 50% less likely to develop thyroid cancer (OR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.32–0.80). Alcohol consumption was associated with a reduced risk of papillary thyroid cancer (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.49–0.88) and thyroid cancer with lager tumor size (>1 cm), but no significant association was found between alcohol consumption and non-papillary thyroid cancer or thyroid microcarcinoma. Analyses stratified by specific subtypes of alcohol demonstrated an inverse association for beer (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.49–0.96) and wine consumption (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53–0.96) as compared to participants who never consumed alcohol, but no significant association was found for liquor consumption (OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.53–1.04).

Conclusions: The study findings suggest an inverse association between alcohol consumption and risk of thyroid cancer. Future mechanistic study is warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

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Conflicts of Interest

none declared

Source of Funding

This research was supported by the American Cancer Society (ACS) grants RSGM-10-038-01-CCE and 127509-MRSG-15-147-01-CNE, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01ES020361, and the Ministry of Science and Technology of People’s Republic of China grant 2016YFC1302500.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Huang Huang & Yawei Zhang

  2. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA

    Nan Zhao, Yingtai Chen, Nicole Deziel & Yawei Zhang

  3. Cancer Institute & Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Yingtai Chen, Min Dai & Ni Li

  4. Endocrine Neoplasia Institute, Miami Cancer Institute, Miami, FL, USA

    Robert Udelsman

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  1. Huang Huang
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  2. Nan Zhao
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  4. Nicole Deziel
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  5. Min Dai
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  7. Robert Udelsman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yawei Zhang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Vasilis Vasiliou

  2. Distilled Spirits Council of the US, Washington, DC, USA

    Samir Zakhari

  3. Mishra Laboratory, University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Lopa Mishra

  4. Salem Medical Centre, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Helmut K. Seitz

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Huang, H. et al. (2018). Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Thyroid Cancer: A Population Based Case-Control Study in Connecticut. In: Vasiliou, V., Zakhari, S., Mishra, L., Seitz, H. (eds) Alcohol and Cancer. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1032. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98788-0_1

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