title: Cannabis use and cancer of the head and neck: case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether cannabis smoking increases the risk of head and neck cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cases of head and neck cancer < or =55 years identified from hospital databases and the Cancer Registry, and controls randomly selected from the electoral roll completed interviewer-administered questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relative risk of head and neck cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 75 cases and 319 controls. An increased risk of cancer was found with increasing tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and decreased income but not increasing cannabis use. The highest tertile of cannabis use (>8.3 joint years) was associated with a nonsignificant increased risk of cancer (relative risk = 1.6, 95% confidence interval, 0.5-5.2) after adjustment for confounding variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cannabis use did not increase the risk of head and neck cancer; however, because of the limited power and duration of use studied, a small or longer-term effect cannot be excluded.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aldington
authors.forename: Matire
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harwood
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weatherall
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Beckert
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hansell
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pritchard
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beasley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment