Abstract
The relationship between risk of glioma and alcohol consumption has been widely studied, but results have been conflicting. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to systematically assess the relationship between alcohol drinking and risk of glioma. Two electronic databases (PubMed and EMBASE) were searched from inception to 8 August 2013 to identify pertinent studies that linked alcohol drinking with glioma risk. We used a random-effects model to calculate the overall relative risk (RR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Fifteen case-control and four cohort studies were identified for this analysis. The combined RR for total alcohol drinkers versus non-drinkers was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.89–1.04). In the subgroup analysis by geographic area, a significant association was observed in North American studies (RR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.65–0.93), but not in European or Asian/Australian studies. In the subgroup analysis by study design, a borderline significant association emerged in population-based case-control studies (RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68–0.99), but not in hospital-based case-control studies (RR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99–1.01) or cohort group (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.88–1.20). Our results show no material association between alcohol consumption and risk of glioma existed. Further prospective evidences are needed to confirm this association.
Highlights
The cause of glioma, the most frequent type of primary malignant brain tumor, remains largely unknown [1]
Nine of 21 studies were further excluded for the following reasons: involving total brain tumors or central nervous system (CNS) tumors [18,19,20,21,22,23], no available data [24,25], and overlapping data [26]
Our analyses indicated that the risk of glioma did not appear associated with alcohol intake
Summary
The cause of glioma, the most frequent type of primary malignant brain tumor, remains largely unknown [1]. With the exception of genetic syndromes, ionizing radiation is the only well-established risk factor for glioma [1]. These unusual exposures could explain only a minority of exposed individuals, indicating that other factors like dietary, occupational exposures and other personal and residential exposures may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis of glioma [2]. Whether a causal link between alcohol consumption and risk of glioma exists is still unclear. To clarify this issue, we conducted a meta-analysis of published observational studies
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