Abstract A118: Tea drinking habits and esophageal cancer in a high risk area in Northern Iran

Abstracts: Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research 2008 A118 Golestan Province in northern Iran is a high incidence area for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We investigated the association between tea drinking habits and risk of ESCC in a population-based case-control study conducted between 2003 and 2007 in Golestan, with 300 histologically-proven ESCC cases and 571 matched neighborhood controls. In addition, we measured tea temperature and tea drinking patterns among 48582 healthy participants in a cohort study in the same region. Nearly all (98%) of the cohort participants drank black tea regularly, with a mean volume of over one liter/day, and over 60% drank their tea at temperatures over 60°C. The results of the case-control study showed that compared to drinking lukewarm or warm tea, the OR (95% CI) for drinking hot tea was 2.07 (1.28-3.35) and for drinking very hot tea was 8.16 (3.93-16.9). Likewise, compared to drinking tea four or more minutes after pouring it, the ORs (95% CIs) for drinking tea 2-3 minutes and less than 2 minutes after pouring were 2.49 (1.62 - 3.83) and 5.41 (2.63 - 11.1), respectively. There was a strong agreement between responses to questions on temperature of tea drinking and time interval from pouring tea to drinking it (weighted kappa = 0.68). In conclusion, drinking hot tea, a habit commonly seen in Golestan Province, was strongly associated with higher risk of ESCC. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2008;1(7 Suppl):A118.