Drinking practices and risk of squamous-cell esophageal cancer among Black and White men in the United States

To evaluate whether the fivefold greater incidence rate ofsquamous-cell esophageal cancer in Black compared with White men is due totype of alcoholic beverage consumed or to other qualitative differences inalcohol consumption, we conducted a population-based case-control studywith373 males diagnosed with squamous-cell esophageal cancer (124 Whites and249 Blacks) and 1,364 male controls (750 Whites and 614 Blacks) from threegeographic areas in the United States. Included were all histologicallyconfirmed cases newly diagnosed from 1 August 1986 through 30 April 1989,among White and Black men aged 30 to 79 years. Risks varied to some extentaccording to type of alcohol used, with beer a stronger contributor inWhites, and wine and liquor stronger contributors in Blacks. However, most ofthe differences in the odds ratios by type of alcohol and race wereeliminated after controlling for average weekly amount of total alcoholconsumed. Thus, while alcohol use in all forms is an important risk factorfor squamous-cell esophageal cancer in Whites and Blacks, type of alcoholicbeverage used does not appear to account for the racial differences inincidence.