title: A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk.
abstract: It is still inconclusive whether alcohol consumption affects the risk of thyroid cancer. We conducted a meta-analysis of available epidemiological data to address this issue.
  
  
  
  Compared with nondrinkers, the pooled relative risks (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidential intervals (CIs) of thyroid cancer were 0.80 (95% CI 0.71-0.90) for any drinkers, 0.81 (95% CI 0.70-0.93) for light and 0.71 (95% CI 0.63-0.79) for moderate drinkers. The dose-response analysis suggested that there is no evidence of a dose-risk relationship between alcohol intaking and thyroid cancer risk (P = 0.112).
  
  
  
  Eligible studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMbase databases. A total of 24 studies, included 9,990 cases with thyroid cancer, were included in this meta-analysis. We defined light alcohol intake as ≤ one drink/day and moderate as >one drink/day. The summary risk estimates were calculated by the random effects model. A dose-response analysis was also conducted for modeling the dose-risk relation.
  
  
  
  This meta-analysis confirmed an inverse association between alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk. Further studies are needed to better understand the potential mechanisms underlying this association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.|Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
authors.forename: Wenli
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China.
authors.forename: Jingdong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Jingqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D012306:Risk; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: alcohol consumption; epidemiology; meta-analysis; thyroid cancer