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Cancer Causes & Control
Published in: Cancer Causes & Control 9/2011

01-09-2011 | Original paper

An examination of male and female odds ratios by BMI, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx in pooled data from 15 case–control studies

Authors: Jay H. Lubin, Joshua Muscat, Mia M. Gaudet, Andrew F. Olshan, Maria Paula Curado, Luigino Dal Maso, Victor Wünsch-Filho, Erich M. Sturgis, Neonilia Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Xavier Castellsague, Zuo-Feng Zhang, Elaine Smith, Leticia Fernandez, Elena Matos, Silvia Franceschi, Eleonora Fabianova, Peter Rudnai, Mark P. Purdue, Dana Mates, Qingyi Wei, Rolando Herrero, Karl Kelsey, Hal Morgenstern, Oxana Shangina, Sergio Koifman, Jolanta Lissowska, Fabio Levi, Alexander W. Daudt, Jose Eluf Neto, Chu Chen, Philip Lazarus, Deborah M. Winn, Stephen M. Schwartz, Paolo Boffetta, Paul Brennan, Ana Menezes, Carlo La Vecchia, Michael McClean, Renato Talamini, Thangarajan Rajkumar, Richard B. Hayes, Mia Hashibe

Published in: Cancer Causes & Control | Issue 9/2011

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Abstract

Background

Greater tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption and lower body mass index (BMI) increase odds ratios (OR) for oral cavity, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal, and laryngeal cancers; however, there are no comprehensive sex-specific comparisons of ORs for these factors.

Methods

We analyzed 2,441 oral cavity (925 women and 1,516 men), 2,297 oropharynx (564 women and 1,733 men), 508 hypopharynx (96 women and 412 men), and 1,740 larynx (237 women and 1,503 men) cases from the INHANCE consortium of 15 head and neck cancer case–control studies. Controls numbered from 7,604 to 13,829 subjects, depending on analysis. Analyses fitted linear-exponential excess ORs models.

Results

ORs were increased in underweight (<18.5 BMI) relative to normal weight (18.5–24.9) and reduced in overweight and obese categories (≥25 BMI) for all sites and were homogeneous by sex. ORs by smoking and drinking in women compared with men were significantly greater for oropharyngeal cancer (p < 0.01 for both factors), suggestive for hypopharyngeal cancer (p = 0.05 and p = 0.06, respectively), but homogeneous for oral cavity (p = 0.56 and p = 0.64) and laryngeal (p = 0.18 and p = 0.72) cancers.

Conclusions

The extent that OR modifications of smoking and drinking by sex for oropharyngeal and, possibly, hypopharyngeal cancers represent true associations, or derive from unmeasured confounders or unobserved sex-related disease subtypes (e.g., human papillomavirus–positive oropharyngeal cancer) remains to be clarified.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
An examination of male and female odds ratios by BMI, cigarette smoking, and alcohol consumption for cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx in pooled data from 15 case–control studies
Authors
Jay H. Lubin
Joshua Muscat
Mia M. Gaudet
Andrew F. Olshan
Maria Paula Curado
Luigino Dal Maso
Victor Wünsch-Filho
Erich M. Sturgis
Neonilia Szeszenia-Dabrowska
Xavier Castellsague
Zuo-Feng Zhang
Elaine Smith
Leticia Fernandez
Elena Matos
Silvia Franceschi
Eleonora Fabianova
Peter Rudnai
Mark P. Purdue
Dana Mates
Qingyi Wei
Rolando Herrero
Karl Kelsey
Hal Morgenstern
Oxana Shangina
Sergio Koifman
Jolanta Lissowska
Fabio Levi
Alexander W. Daudt
Jose Eluf Neto
Chu Chen
Philip Lazarus
Deborah M. Winn
Stephen M. Schwartz
Paolo Boffetta
Paul Brennan
Ana Menezes
Carlo La Vecchia
Michael McClean
Renato Talamini
Thangarajan Rajkumar
Richard B. Hayes
Mia Hashibe
Publication date
01-09-2011
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Cancer Causes & Control / Issue 9/2011
Print ISSN: 0957-5243
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7225
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9792-x

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