Relationship between bladder cancer and total fluid intake: a meta-analysis of epidemiological evidence

Epidemiological findings regarding the association between total fluid intake and bladder cancer risk have yielded varying results. Our objective is to examine the possible associations between total fluid intake and bladder cancer risk.

Databases searched include the EMBASE and PUBMED, from inception to February 2014, with no limits on study language. We also reviewed the reference lists of identified studies. Stratified analyses were performed. A random-effect model was used to summarize the estimates of odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Overall,17 case-control and four cohort studies were included. The overall OR of bladder cancer for the highest versus the lowest fluid intake was 1.06 (95% CI: 0.88-1.27). In the subgroup analyses, the overall ORs for coffee, green, and black tea intake were 1.17 (95% CI: 1.03-1.33), 0.76 (95% CI: 0.66-0.95), and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.65-0.97), respectively. A significantly decreased risk was observed in Asian people (OR 0.27; 95% CI: 0.10-0.72). Among smokers, a suggestive inverse association was observed between total fluid intake and overall bladder cancer risk (OR 0.80; 95% CI: 0.62-1.02).

Although this meta-analysis suggested that greater consumption of fluid may have a protective effect on bladder cancer in Asian people, there was no convincing evidence on this association because of the limitations of the individual trials.