ALCOHOLISM AND CANCER OF THE LARYNX - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY IN WESTERNWASHINGTON (UNITED-STATES)

Alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor for laryngeal cancer. To determine whether alcoholism, as measured by responses to the Michi gan alcoholism screening test (MAST), is a risk factor for laryngeal c ancer independent of alcohol consumption, we analyzed data from a popu lation-based case-control study. Personal interviews were conducted wi th 235 patients (81 percent response rate) with laryngeal cancer diagn osed from September 1983 through February 1987, who were residents of the Seattle metropolitan area. A total of 547 controls frequency-match ed by age and gender, selected by random-digit dialing, were interview ed (75 percent response rate). When considered in a multivariate model , independent risk factors for laryngeal cancer included: alcohol cons umption (42 or more drinks/wk compared with seven or less drinks/wk: o dds ratio [OR] = 3.1, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-7.9); cigarette use (40 or more cigarettes/day compared with never-smoked: O R = 23.1, CI = 9.452.6); and weighted positive responses to the MAST ( score of five or more compared with score of zero: OR = 1.9, CI = 1.1- 3.4). Possible explanations for the association between alcoholism and laryngeal cancer are that a measure of alcoholism improves the accura cy of assessment of alcohol consumption, that alcoholism is associated with a pattern of alcohol consumption that increases the risk of lary ngeal cancer, or that alcoholism may be a marker for host susceptibili ty to the carcinogenic effects of alcohol.