Abstract
Oesophageal cancer rates in women in the UK are more than 3 times higher than in most other European populations. A population-based matched case–control study of histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus in women was carried out in 4 regions in England and Scotland. Interviews were carried out in hospital or at home and topics included: smoking; alcohol; tea and coffee consumption; medical and obstetric history; and diet. Response rates were 62% for cases and 65% for first-chosen controls. There were 159 case–control pairs. Significant results were found for: eating salads (odds ratio (OR) 0.42, 95% CI 0.20–0.92 in the highest quartile of consumption) and a light (as distinct from no) breakfast (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.07 – 0.48) were protective; quantity of tea was a risk factor and there was a significant positive trend with temperature at which hot drinks were consumed (P = 0.03). Alcohol consumption was unrelated to risk, but there was a significant trend with years of smoking (P = 0.015). A protective effect of aspirin consumption was confined to the English centres (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01–0.56). Comparison with a parallel study of adenocarcinoma indicated a common protective effect of a healthy diet but otherwise distinct risk factors. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com
Keywords: oesophagus, cancer, case–control, aetiology
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (44.4 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Brewster D. H., Fraser L. A., McKinney P. A., Black R. J. Socioeconomic status and risk of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and cancer of the gastric cardia in Scotland. Br J Cancer. 2000 Aug;83(3):387–390. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.2000.1110. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cheng K. K., Day N. E. Nutrition and esophageal cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1996 Jan;7(1):33–40. doi: 10.1007/BF00115636. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cheng K. K., Day N. E. Oesophageal cancer in Britain. BMJ. 1992 Mar 14;304(6828):711–711. doi: 10.1136/bmj.304.6828.711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cheng K. K., Sharp L., McKinney P. A., Logan R. F., Chilvers C. E., Cook-Mozaffari P., Ahmed A., Day N. E. A case-control study of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in women: a preventable disease. Br J Cancer. 2000 Jul;83(1):127–132. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.2000.1121. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- De Stefani E., Muñoz N., Estève J., Vasallo A., Victora C. G., Teuchmann S. Mate drinking, alcohol, tobacco, diet, and esophageal cancer in Uruguay. Cancer Res. 1990 Jan 15;50(2):426–431. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Farrow D. C., Vaughan T. L., Hansten P. D., Stanford J. L., Risch H. A., Gammon M. D., Chow W. H., Dubrow R., Ahsan H., Mayne S. T. Use of aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and risk of esophageal and gastric cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1998 Feb;7(2):97–102. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Langman M. J., Cheng K. K., Gilman E. A., Lancashire R. J. Effect of anti-inflammatory drugs on overall risk of common cancer: case-control study in general practice research database. BMJ. 2000 Jun 17;320(7250):1642–1646. doi: 10.1136/bmj.320.7250.1642. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Macfarlane G. J., Boyle P. The epidemiology of oesophageal cancer in the UK and other European countries. J R Soc Med. 1994 Jun;87(6):334–337. doi: 10.1177/014107689408700612. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Powell J., Allum W. H. Oesophageal cancer in Britain. BMJ. 1992 May 23;304(6838):1380–1380. doi: 10.1136/bmj.304.6838.1380-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Victora C. G., Muñoz N., Day N. E., Barcelos L. B., Peccin D. A., Braga N. M. Hot beverages and oesophageal cancer in southern Brazil: a case-control study. Int J Cancer. 1987 Jun 15;39(6):710–716. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910390610. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]