Alcohol consumption and risk of glioma: a meta-analysis of 19 observational studies.
The relationship between risk of glioma and alcohol consumption has been widely studied, but results have been conflicting. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to systematically assess the relationship between alcohol drinking and risk of glioma. Two electronic databases (PubMed and EMBASE) were searched from inception to 8 August 2013 to identify pertinent studies that linked alcohol drinking with glioma risk. We used a random-effects model to calculate the overall relative risk (RR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Fifteen case-control and four cohort studies were identified for this analysis. The combined RR for total alcohol drinkers versus non-drinkers was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.89-1.04). In the subgroup analysis by geographic area, a significant association was observed in North American studies (RR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.65-0.93), but not in European or Asian/Australian studies. In the subgroup analysis by study design, a borderline significant association emerged in population-based case-control studies (RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-0.99), but not in hospital-based case-control studies (RR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.01) or cohort group (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.88-1.20). Our results show no material association between alcohol consumption and risk of glioma existed. Further prospective evidences are needed to confirm this association.
Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. qizhenyu@suda.edu.cn.
Zhen-Yu
ZY
Qi
Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. scshaochuan@yahoo.com.
Chuan
C
Shao
Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. 20114232107@suda.edu.cn.
Chao
C
Yang
Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. wzsuda@163.com.
Zhong
Z
Wang
Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China. hgzsuda@163.com.
Guo-Zhen
GZ
Hui
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005910:Glioma / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D064887:Observational Studies as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors