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Consumption of beer and colorectal cancer incidence: a meta-analysis of observational studies

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Abstract

Background

Several meta-analyses and reports from the World Cancer Research Fund supported a risk association between alcohol consumption and colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the association for beer consumption, the common type of alcoholic beverage, remains unclear.

Methods

We identified studies by a literature search of PUBMED and EMBASE through 30 June 2014. Summary relative risks (SRRs) with their 95 % CIs were calculated with a fixed or random effects model.

Results

Twelve case–control and nine cohort studies were included. Compared with non-alcohol drinkers or non-beer drinkers, any beer drinkers were associated with an increased risk of CRC (SRR = 1.20, 95 % CI, 1.06–1.37; p heterogeneity <0.001, I 2 = 73.3 %), which was stronger in the rectum than in the colon. The categorical meta-analysis indicated that heavy (≥2 drinks/day) beer drinking was related to increased risk of CRC (SRR = 1.37, 95 % CI 1.26–1.49), while light or moderate beer drinking was not. The dose–response analysis demonstrated that an increase of one drink per day in beer consumption was related to an increased risk of CRC (SRR = 1.13, 95 % CI, 1.06–1.21). There was evidence of a potential nonlinear association between beer intake and CRC incidence (p = 0.002 for nonlinearity).

Conclusions

The results from this meta-analysis suggest that heavy (≥2 drinks/day) beer drinking may be associated with increased CRC risk. More researches with improved control of confounding and actual measurement of beer consumption are needed to confirm these findings.

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Conflict of interests

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Colorectal Surgery, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1630 Dongfang Road, Pudong New District, 200127, Shanghai, China

    Cheng Zhang & Min Zhong

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  1. Cheng Zhang
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  2. Min Zhong
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Correspondence to Min Zhong.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 69 kb)

10552_2015_532_MOESM2_ESM.doc

Supplementary Fig. 1: Pooled risk estimates for colorectal cancer for light (less than 1 drink/day, A), moderate (1–2 drinks/day, B), heavy (2 or more than 2 drinks/day, C) beer drinkers versus nondrinkers or occasional drinkers from case–control and cohort studies. Supplementary material 2 (DOC 33 kb)

10552_2015_532_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Supplementary Fig. 2: Funnel plot of studies evaluating the association between light, moderate, and heavy beer drinkers vs. non-/occasional drinkers and colorectal cancer risk, according to the Begg’s adjusted rank correlation test. Supplementary material 3 (TIFF 4790 kb)

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Zhang, C., Zhong, M. Consumption of beer and colorectal cancer incidence: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Cancer Causes Control 26, 549–560 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0532-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0532-5

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