Alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk in never smokers

The main objective of this study is to analyse the role of alcohol consumption on lung cancer risk in people who have never smoked.

We conducted a systematic review of the scientific literature following the PRISMA statement. We searched Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL using different combinations of MeSH terms and free text. We included cohort studies, pooled cohort studies and case-control studies comprising at least 25 anatomopathologically-confirmed diagnoses of lung cancer cases, a sample size larger than 100 individuals and more than five years of follow-up for cohort studies. We excluded studies that did not specifically report results for never smokers. We developed a quality score to assess the quality of the included papers and we ultimately included 14 investigations with a heterogeneous design and methodology.

Results for alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk in never smokers are inconclusive; however, several studies showed a dose-response pattern for total alcohol consumption and for spirits. Heterogeneous results were found for wine and beer.

No clear effect is observed for alcohol consumption. Due to the limited evidence, no conclusion can be drawn for beer or wine consumption. There is little research available on the effect of alcohol on lung cancer risk for people who have never smoked, and more studies are urgently needed on this topic.