Cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and colorectal adenoma in Japanese men and women

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between smoking and alcohol use and risk of colorectal adenoma. METHODS: Information about smoking, alcohol use, and other lifestyle variables mere obtained prospectively from 14,427 male and 17,125 female residents in a city of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, by a self-administered questionnaire in September, 1992. Colorectal adenomas mere newly diagnosed in 181 men and 78 women in this cohort between January, 1993 and December, 1995 by colonoscopic examination at two major hospitals of the city. Gender-specific and site-specific relative risks and 95 percent confidence intervals adjusted for age and for age plus other potential confounding factors were calculated by using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Thirty or more years of smoking was significantly associated with risk: of adenoma in general compared with never having smoked in both men and women (relative risk, 1.60; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02-2.62 and relative risk, 4.54; 95 per cent confidence interval, 2.04-9.08, respectively). Effect of smoking was stronger in the proximal colon. After adjusting for age and carbohydrate intake, total alcohol intake was not associated with risk of adenoma in any site in the colon in men. Sake drinkers were at significantly increased risk of adenoma in general, but the dose-response relationship was not statistically significant. Risk of adenoma in the rectum was not significantly increased for those who consumed >30.3 g/day of ethanol (relative risk, 5.7). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that smoking is a risk factor of adenoma in Japanese men and women. The role of alcohol, however, is less clear.