title: Population based study of the association between binge drinking and mortality from cancer of oropharynx and esophagus in Korean men: the Kangwha cohort study.
abstract: We assessed the association between frequency of heavy binge drinking and mortality from oropharynx and esophagus cancer after controlling for the total volume of alcohol intake among Korean men. The cohort comprised 2,677 male residents in Kangwha County, aged 55 or older in March 1985, for their upper digestive tract cancer mortality for 20.8 years up to December 31, 2005. For daily binge drinkers versus non-drinkers, the hazard ratios (95% Cls) for mortality were 4.82 (1.36, 17.1) and 6.75 (1.45, 31.4) for oropharyngeal and esophageal cancers, respectively. Even after adjusting for the volume of alcohol intake, we found the hazard ratios for frequency of binge drinking and mortality of oropharyngeal or esophageal cancer to not change appreciably: the hazard ratios were 4.90 (1.00, 27.0) and 7.17 (1.02, 50.6), respectively. For esophageal cancer, there was a strong dose-response relationship. The frequency of heavy binge drinking and not just the volume of alcohol intake may increase the risk of mortality from upper digestive tract cancer, particularly esophageal cancer in Korean men. These findings need to be confirmed in further studies with a larger sample size.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea E-mail : juwon@yuhs.ac.
authors.forename: Sang Hyuk
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Bayasgalan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gombojav
authors.forename: Eun-Cheol
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Chung Mo
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Heechoul
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohrr
authors.forename: Jong Uk
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Won
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000401:mortality*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors