DIET AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION AND LUNG-CANCER RISK IN THE NEW-YORK-STATE COHORT (UNITED-STATES)

The relationship between diet and alcohol and lung cancer was evaluate d among participants of the New York State Cohort (United States), com prising 27,544 men (395 cases) and 20,456 women (130 cases) who comple ted a brief mailed questionnaire in 1980. Participants were followed u p through 1987 with the assistance of the New York State Department of Health's Vital Statistics Section and Cancer Registry, Among men, inv erse relationships with vitamin C, folate, and carotenoids, and positi ve associations with total fat, monounsaturated and saturated fat were observed after adjusting for age, education, cigarettes/day, years sm oking, and total energy intake. The relationships observed with folate and saturated fat were stronger for heavy smokers. Also, the effect o f folate, total fat, and monounsaturated fat seemed to be limited to s quamous cell carcinomas, We found no indication that cholesterol or po lyunsaturated fat was associated with lung cancer, Diet did not appear to exert a major role on lung cancer risk among women, Although diet modification should never be considered a substitute for smoking cessa tion, its role as an additional strategy in lung cancer prevention des erves attention.