Brief Article
Copyright ©2010 Baishideng. All rights reserved
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 28, 2010; 16(12): 1518-1521
Published online Mar 28, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i12.1518
Cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking and esophageal cancer risk in Taiwanese women
Shu-Yu Tai, I-Chen Wu, Deng-Chyang Wu, Hung-Ju Su, Jie-Len Huang, Hui-Jen Tsai, Chien-Yu Lu, Jang-Ming Lee, Ming-Tsang Wu
Shu-Yu Tai, Ming-Tsang Wu, Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China
I-Chen Wu, Deng-Chyang Wu, Chien-Yu Lu, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China
Hung-Ju Su, Jie-Len Huang, Biomedical Engineering Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu City 310, Taiwan, China
Deng-Chyang Wu, Chien-Yu Lu, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China
Hui-Jen Tsai, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China
Jang-Ming Lee, Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan, China
Ming-Tsang Wu, Graduate Institute of Occupational Safety & Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China
Author contributions: Tai SY, Wu IC, Wu DC, Su HJ, Huang JL and Wu MT participated in the analysis of data, designed and conducted the research, and wrote the manuscript; Wu DC, Tsai HJ, Lu CY and Lee JM participated in the collection of study subjects.
Supported by Grants from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH96-6G04) and National Science Council (NSC 98-2918-I-037-001 and NSC 97-2314-B-037-018-MY3)
Correspondence to: Ming-Tsang Wu, MD, Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, 100 Shih-Chuan 1st Road, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan, China. 960021@ms.kmuh.org.tw
Telephone: +886-7-3121101 Fax: +886-7-3221806
Received: December 17, 2009
Revised: January 19, 2010
Accepted: January 26, 2010
Published online: March 28, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the etiology of esophageal cancer among Taiwanese women.

METHODS: This is a multi-center, hospital-based, case-control study. Case patients consisted of women who were newly diagnosed and pathology-proven to have esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) from three large medical centers (one from Northern and two from Southern Taiwan, respectively) between August 2000 and December 2008. Each ESCC patient was matched with 4 healthy women based on age (within 3 years) and hospital of origin, from the Department of Preventive Medicine in each hospital. A total of 51 case patients and 204 controls, all women, were studied.

RESULTS: Frequencies of smokers and drinkers among ESCC patients were 19.6% and 21.6%, respectively, which were significantly higher than smokers (4.4%) and drinkers (4.4%) among controls (OR = 4.07, 95% CI: 1.36-12.16, P = 0.01; OR = 3.55, 95% CI: 1.03-12.27, P = 0.04). Women who drank an amount of alcohol more than 158 g per week had a 20.58-fold greater risk (95% CI: 1.72-245.62, P = 0.02) of ESCC than those who never drank alcohol after adjusting for other covariates, although the sample size was small.

CONCLUSION: Cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking, especially heavy drinking, are the major risks for developing ESCC in Taiwanese women.

Keywords: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, Taiwanese women, Cigarette smoking, Alcohol drinking