Alcohol Intake and Colorectal Cancer Risk in the Multiethnic Cohort Study

Abstract

To investigate the association of alcohol intake with colorectal cancer risk by race/ethnicity as well as sex, lifestyle-related factors, alcoholic beverage type, and anatomical subsite, we analyzed data from 190,698 African Americans, Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, Latinos and whites in the Multiethnic Cohort Study, with 4,923 incident cases during a 16.7-year follow-up period (1993-2013). In multivariate Cox regression models, the hazard ratio (HR) was 1.16 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.34) for 15.0‒29.9 g/day of alcohol and 1.28 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.45) for ≥30.0 g/day in men, and 1.06 (95% CI: 0.85, 1.32) and 1.15 (95% CI: 0.92, 1.43), respectively, in women, compared with nondrinkers (P for heterogeneity by sex = 0.74). An increased risk was apparent in Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, Latinos and whites, and in individuals with body mass index <25.0 kg/m², never use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and lower intake of dietary fiber and folate. Beer and wine, but not liquor, consumption was positively related to colorectal cancer risk. The association was stronger for rectum and left colon than right colon tumors. Our findings suggest that the positive association between alcohol and colorectal cancer varies by race/ethnicity, lifestyle factors, alcoholic beverage type, and anatomical subsite of tumors.