title: A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and the risk of brain tumours.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alcohol is capable of traversing the blood-brain barrier and is thus a possible risk factor for brain cancer. Several epidemiological studies have been published on the issue, a number of those during recent years, with inconsistent findings.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a systematic literature search in the Medline and EMBASE databases. We found a total of 19 studies providing risk estimates for total alcohol or specific alcoholic beverages. Pooled estimates of the relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using random-effects models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pooled RR of brain cancer for alcohol drinkers versus non-drinkers was 0.97 (95% CI 0.82-1.15; based on 12 studies). Moderate (<2 drinks/day) and heavy alcohol drinkers had RRs of 1.01 (95% CI 0.81-1.25) and 1.35 (95% CI 0.85-2.15), respectively. With reference to specific alcoholic beverages, the RRs were 1.01 (95% CI 0.70-1.48) for wine, 0.96 (95% CI 0.82-1.12) for beer, and 1.20 (95% CI 1.01-1.42) for spirit consumption. The RRs for drinkers versus non-drinkers were 0.93 (95% CI 0.81-1.07) for glioma and 0.71 (95% CI 0.45-1.12) for meningioma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol drinking does not appear to be associated with adult brain cancer, though a potential effect of high doses deserves further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan. Electronic address: carlotta.galeone@marionegri.it.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Galeone
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malerba
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Medicine and Prevention, Centre of Biostatistics for Clinical Epidemiology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rota
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bagnardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Negri
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bellocco
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corrao
authors.affiliation: Institute for Translational Epidemiology, The Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA; International Prevention Research Institute, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffetta
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan; International Prevention Research Institute, Lyon, France; Department of Clinical Medicine and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: La Vecchia
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pelucchi
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors