Wine and other alcohol consumption and risk of ovarian cancer in the California Teachers Study cohort.
OBJECTIVE
Whether alcohol consumption influences ovarian cancer risk is unclear. Therefore, we investigated the association between alcohol intake at various ages and risk of ovarian cancer.


METHODS
Among 90,371 eligible members of the California Teachers Study cohort who completed a baseline alcohol assessment in 1995-1996, 253 women were diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer by the end of 2003. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).


RESULTS
Consumption of total alcohol, beer, or liquor in the year prior to baseline, at ages 30-35 years, or at ages 18-22 years was not associated with risk of ovarian cancer. Consumption of at least one glass per day of wine, compared to no wine, in the year before baseline was associated with increased risk of developing ovarian cancer: RR = 1.57 (95% CI 1.11-2.22), P (trend) = 0.01. The association with wine intake at baseline was particularly strong among peri-/post-menopausal women who used estrogen-only hormone therapy and women of high socioeconomic status.


CONCLUSIONS
Alcohol intake does not appear to affect ovarian cancer risk. Constituents of wine other than alcohol or, more likely, unmeasured determinants of wine drinking were associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer.
Chang
Ellen T
ET
Northern California Cancer Center, 2201 Walnut Avenue, Suite 300, Fremont, CA 94538, USA. echang@nccc.org
Canchola
Alison J
AJ
Lee
Valerie S
VS
Clarke
Christina A
CA
Purdie
David M
DM
Reynolds
Peggy
P
Bernstein
Leslie
L
Stram
Daniel O
DO
Anton-Culver
Hoda
H
Deapen
Dennis
D
Mohrenweiser
Harvey
H
Peel
David
D
Pinder
Rich
R
Ross
Ronald K
RK
West
Dee W
DW
Wright
William
W
Ziogas
Argyrios
A
Horn-Ross
Pamela L
PL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000378:metabolism; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014920:Wine