No abstract

From 1987 to 1989, a hospital-based case-control study of cancer of the tongue was conducted in Montevideo, Uruguay, as part of a large study to investigate a number of risk factors for cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx. The study involved interviews with 57 cases and 353 controls and was restricted to men. Relative risks (RR) associated with tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, and selected dietary items were obtained by unconditional logistic-regression analysis. Users of black tobacco had a RR fourfold higher than users of blond tobacco, and heavy drinkers of alcohol had a RR of 11.6. Infrequent consumption of vegetables was associated with a significant RR of 5.3, and heavy drinkers of the local infusion "mate" had a RR of 2.5. It was concluded that black tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking were the strongest risk factors for cancer of the tongue in Uruguay. Their effects combine according to a multiplicative model. Also, infrequent vegetable intake and mate ingestion contribute to the risk of cancer of the tongue.

SummaryIn the period January 1988-December 1995. a case-control study of diet and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) risk involving 121 cases and 243 hospitalized controls was carried out in Montevideo, Uruguay. After adjusting for major covariates, red meat intake was associated with a 3.4 increase in risk for the highest category of intake, with a significant dose-response pattem. Also, barbecued meat, protein and heterocyclic amine intakes were associated with significant increases in risk of RCC. The consumption of the beverage known as 'mate' (a local tea derived from the herb Ilex paraguariensis) was associated with an increased risk of 3.0 for heavy drinkers. by tx-o trained social wvorkers using a standard routine questionnaire. designed to obtain information on risk factors for all cancers and non-neoplastic conditions. The database so created. from which the study subjects were obtained. has also been used for a study of luncg cancer (De Stefani et al. 1996). In this particular instance. all patients w-ith RCC admitted to the Instituto Nacional de Oncologia in the time period 1988-95 and successfully interviewed were included in the case series. The response rate for cases was high (92.7%7). All cases were histologically verified as having RCC. Most had RCC of the clear cell variant (85%7c). The remaining, 15%7 had RCC of the eosinophilic cell variant.In the same period. 5295 patients with a variety of other disorders. both neoplastic and non-neoplastic. were admitted to the same institution. The oxerall response rate for these patients was 93.0%c. From this pool of patients. potential controls were randomly selected excluding the following conditions: (1) malignancies. (2) smoking-related conditions. (3) conditions related to mate' consumption (see hst above) and (4) digestive diseases or disorders associated Awith a long-term modification of diet. Cases were frequency matched with controls on age. sex and residence.

A case-control study of bladder cancer involving interviews with 111 incident cases and 222 controls was carried out in Montevideo, Uruguay. The analysis was conducted separately for each sex. Point estimates of relative risk associated with smoking variables, ingestion of infusions of the herb Ilex paraguariensis (maté), and selected dietary items were obtained by stratified and logistic regression analysis. Among men, smokers of black tobacco showed a relative risk (RR) 2.7 higher than blond tobacco smokers and maté exposure showed a significant dose-response, after adjustment for age, residence, social class, hospital, type of tobacco, smoking intensity, smoking duration, and vegetable consumption, with a seven-fold increase in risk for heavy consumers. Joint exposure to type of tobacco and maté consumption showed a multiplicative effect. Women showed a similar increase in risk with maté consumption. The results suggest that the high mortality rates of bladder cancer observed in Uruguay could be explained by the combined effect of black tobacco smoking and maté ingestion.

A hospital-based case-control study of the association between tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and several relevant dietary items and prostate cancer was carried out in the National Cancer Institute of Uruguay between January 1988 and December 1994. The sample included 156 patients with histologically proven prostatic cancer and 302 controls with a variety of neoplastic and non-neoplastic diseases. The results showed increased risks of prostate cancer associated with beer drinking, meat, milk and fruit consumption, after adjusting for major confounders. The possible role of N-nitroso compounds from beer in prostatic carcinogenesis is discussed.