BLADDER-CANCER, TOBACCO SMOKING, COFFEE AND ALCOHOL-DRINKING IN BRESCIA, NORTHERN ITALY

The association between tobacco smoking, the consumption of coffee and alcohol and bladder cancer was investigated in a hospital-based case- control study in Brescia, northern Italy. A total of 172 incident case s (135 men and 37 women) and 578 controls (398 men and 180 women) were enrolled. As expected, cigarette smoking was strongly associated with bladder cancer. The odds ratios (OR) for coffee drinking adjusted for age, education, residence and cigarette smoking in current drinkers w ere 2.6 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.1-6.1) in men and 5.2 (95% CI: 1.0-30.4) in women. A dose-response relationship was found in men, wi th the highest risk in the highest category of exposure: drinkers of m ore than 5 cups per day had an OR of 4.5 (95% CI: 1.2-16.8). The ORs f or current alcohol drinkers were 2.1 (95% CI: 1.0-4.8) in men and 3.4 (95% CI: 1.2-9.7) in women; according to grams of ethanol drunk per da y (grams/day, g/d) the ORs were: 1.7 (1-20 g/d), 1.6 (21-40 g/d), 4.3 (41-60 g/d) and 4.6 (61+ g/d) in men and 3.1 (1-20 g/d) and 3.9 (21+ g /d) in women. These results suggest that regular consumption of both c offee and alcohol can be independently associated with an increased bl adder cancer risk.