title: [Alcohol consumption and epithelial cancer risk in the EPIC-Italy cohort].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to evaluate the association between baseline and lifetime alcohol consumption and the risk of epithelial cancer (all types) in the Italian cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC) study.
  
  
  METHODS
  prospective study carried out in a large Italian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  detailed information on the consumption of alcoholic beverages at baseline and over lifetime collected at enrolment into the EPIC study (1993-1998) by standardised questionnaires for 44,477 healthy adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  2,640 incident epithelial cancers identified during a mean follow-up of 11.4 years. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for several potential confounders were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  lifetime alcohol consumption (p for trend =0.005) was associated with epithelial cancer risk in the whole cohort. This effect was more evident in women (p =0.049) and in current smokers (p =0.012). Alcohol consumption at baseline was associated with the epithelial cancer risk in women (p for trend =0.01) and current smokers (p for trend =0.02). A significant interaction between alcohol consumption and smoke duration (p =0.015 for baseline; p =0.006 for lifetime) was identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  in this large Italian population, alcohol consumption, particularly lifetime, is a significant risk factor for the development of epithelial cancers. This effect appears to be modulated by smoking habits.
authors.affiliation: SC epidemiologia molecolare e nutrizionale, Istituto per lo studio e prevenzione oncologica (ISPO), Firenze.
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Saieva
authors.affiliation: SC epidemiologia molecolare e nutrizionale, Istituto per lo studio e prevenzione oncologica (ISPO), Firenze.
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Caini
authors.affiliation: SC epidemiologia molecolare e nutrizionale, Istituto per lo studio e prevenzione oncologica (ISPO), Firenze.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ceroti
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics Foundation (HuGeF), Torino.|Unità di epidemiologia dei tumori, Città della salute e della scienza, Azienda ospedaliero-universitaria e Centro per la prevenzione oncologica (CPO) del Piemonte, Torino.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fasanelli
authors.affiliation: Unità di epidemiologia dei tumori, Città della salute e della scienza, Azienda ospedaliero-universitaria e Centro per la prevenzione oncologica (CPO) del Piemonte, Torino.
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ricceri
authors.affiliation: SC di epidemiologia e prevenzione, Fondazione IRCCS - Istituto nazionale dei tumori, Milano.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agnoli
authors.affiliation: SC di epidemiologia e prevenzione, Fondazione IRCCS - Istituto nazionale dei tumori, Milano.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grioni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di medicina clinica e chirurgia, Università Federico II, Napoli.
authors.forename: Amalia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mattiello
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di medicina clinica e chirurgia, Università Federico II, Napoli.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santucci de Magistris
authors.affiliation: Registro dei tumori, Dipartimento di prevenzione medica, Azienda sanitaria provinciale (ASP) Ragusa.
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tumino
authors.affiliation: Registro dei tumori, Dipartimento di prevenzione medica, Azienda sanitaria provinciale (ASP) Ragusa.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martorana
authors.affiliation: SC epidemiologia molecolare e nutrizionale, Istituto per lo studio e prevenzione oncologica (ISPO), Firenze. g.masala@ispo.toscana.it.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D033162:Incidental Findings; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors