Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Head and neck cancer (HNC) risk is elevated among lean people and reduced among overweight or obese people in some studies; however, it is unknown whether these associations differ for certain subgroups or are influenced by residual confounding from the effects of alcohol and tobacco use or by other sources of biases.Methods
We pooled data from 17 case-control studies including 12 716 cases and the 17 438 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for associations between body mass index (BMI) at different ages and HNC risk, adjusted for age, sex, centre, race, education, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption.Results
Adjusted ORs (95% CIs) were elevated for people with BMI at reference (date of diagnosis for cases and date of selection for controls) < or =18.5 kg/m(2) (2.13, 1.75-2.58) and reduced for BMI >25.0-30.0 kg/m(2) (0.52, 0.44-0.60) and BMI > or =30 kg/m(2) (0.43, 0.33-0.57), compared with BMI >18.5-25.0 kg/m(2). These associations did not differ by age, sex, tumour site or control source. Although the increased risk among people with BMI < or =18.5 kg/m(2) was not modified by tobacco smoking or alcohol drinking, the inverse association for people with BMI > 25 kg/m(2) was present only in smokers and drinkers.Conclusions
In our large pooled analysis, leanness was associated with increased HNC risk regardless of smoking and drinking status, although reverse causality cannot be excluded. The reduced risk among overweight or obese people may indicate body size is a modifier of the risk associated with smoking and drinking. Further clarification may be provided by analyses of prospective cohort and mechanistic studies.
SUBMITTER: Gaudet MM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2929351 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Gaudet Mia M MM Olshan Andrew F AF Chuang Shu-Chun SC Berthiller Julien J Zhang Zuo-Feng ZF Lissowska Jolanta J Zaridze David D Winn Deborah M DM Wei Qingyi Q Talamini Renato R Szeszenia-Dabrowska Neolilia N Sturgis Erich M EM Schwartz Stephen M SM Rudnai Peter P Eluf-Neto Jose J Muscat Joshua J Morgenstern Hal H Menezes Ana A Matos Elena E Bucur Alexandru A Levi Fabio F Lazarus Philip P La Vecchia Carlo C Koifman Sergio S Kelsey Karl K Herrero Rolando R Hayes Richard B RB Franceschi Silva S Wunsch-Filho Victor V Fernandez Leticia L Fabianova Eleonora E Daudt Alexander W AW Dal Maso Luigino L Curado Maria Paula MP Chen Chu C Castellsague Xavier X Benhamou Simone S Boffetta Paolo P Brennan Paul P Hashibe Mia M
International journal of epidemiology 20100201 4
<h4>Background</h4>Head and neck cancer (HNC) risk is elevated among lean people and reduced among overweight or obese people in some studies; however, it is unknown whether these associations differ for certain subgroups or are influenced by residual confounding from the effects of alcohol and tobacco use or by other sources of biases.<h4>Methods</h4>We pooled data from 17 case-control studies including 12 716 cases and the 17 438 controls. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) w ...[more]