A case-control study of alcoholic beverage consumption in relation to risk of cancer of the right colon and rectum in men.

To examine the relation between alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of cancer of the right colon and rectum, 644 male cases and 992 male community controls were interviewed by telephone. The risks of cancer at these sites associated with alcohol consumption five years in the past were similar; using subjects with right colon cancer for reference, the adjusted relative risk (RR) of rectal cancer associated with five or more drinks per day was 0.9 (95% confidence limits = 0.4, 1.7). Alcohol consumption 20 years in the past was associated with a greater risk of rectal cancer (RR for five or more drinks per day = 1.8 [1.0, 3.3]). Analyses based on a community controls provided weaker evidence, consistent with previous findings, that heavy consumption of alcohol five years in the past, and possibly of beer in particular, was associated with moderately increased risk of colorectal cancer (RR of cancer of the right colon associated with consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks per day was 1.8 [1.0, 3.2], and of cancer of the rectum was 1.5 [0.9, 2.5]).