Alcohol drinking and risk of renal cell carcinoma: results of a meta-analysis
A partir des données de 20 études observationnelles, cette méta-analyse évalue l'association entre la consommation d'alcool et le risque de carcinome à cellules rénales
Background: The role of alcohol consumption in relation with renal cell carcinoma is still unclear; a few studies have reported a beneficial effect of moderate levels of alcohol consumption, whereas it remains still under debate whether there is a dose–response association.Materials and methods: Twenty observational studies (4 cohort, 1 pooled and 15 case–control) reporting results on at least three levels of alcohol consumption were selected through a combined search with PubMed and EMBASE of articles published before November 2010. Overall relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using random-effects models, and both second-order fractional polynomials and random effect meta-regression models were implemented for the study of dose–risk relation.Results: The estimated RRs were 0.85 (95% CI: 0.80–0.92) for any alcohol drinking, 0.90 (95% CI: 0.83–0.97) for light drinking (0.01–12.49 g/day), 0.79 (95% CI: 0.71–0.88) for moderate drinking (12.5–49.9 g/day) and 0.89 (95% CI: 0.58–1.39) for heavy drinking (≥50 g/day), respectively.Conclusion: Our meta-analysis supports the hypothesis of a negative effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the risk of renal cell cancer.