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Review
. 2016 Aug 23;7(34):55912-55923.
doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.10352.

A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk

Xiaofei Wang  1   2 , Wenli Cheng  3 , Jingdong Li  2 , Jingqiang Zhu  1
Affiliations
Review

A meta-analysis of alcohol consumption and thyroid cancer risk

Xiaofei Wang et al. Oncotarget. .

Abstract

Background: 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.

Results: 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).

Methods: 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.

Conclusion: 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.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; epidemiology; meta-analysis; thyroid cancer.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

There is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Pooled risk estimates of alcohol drinking for thyroid cancer risk (drinkers versus nondrinkers)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Pooled risk estimates of alcohol drinking for thyroid cancer risk (light or moderate drinkers versus nondrinkers)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Relative risks (RRs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the dose-response relationship between alcohol drinking (grams per day) and thyroid cancer risk
The solid line and the long dash line represent the estimated RRs and their 95% CIs. Short dash line represents the linear relationship.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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