Association of cancer of the lower urinary tract with consumption of alcoholic beverages. A case-control study.

This preliminary report deals with findings on the consumption of alcoholic beverages (beer, high-proof spirits, wine) and risk of tumors of the lower urinary tract from 340 male patients with urothelial cancer and an equal number of matched hospital controls (age and sex) without any malignant disease. After adjustment for smoking, beer drinkers had an overall increased odds ratio of 1.6 and showed a clear dose-response relationship (odds ratio of 1.2, 2.1 and 2.8 after daily consumption of up to 0.5, 0.5-1.0 and greater than 1 1). Drinkers of high-proof spirits also revealed an elevated odds ratio (of 1.7) compared with abstainers or occasional consumers, as well as increased risks with higher consumption (odds ratios were 1.5 and 2.7 after drinking up to 0.5 and greater than 0.51 per week). No relationship was found with wine drinking. In a multiple logistic regression analysis, only beer consumption showed a significant association.