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Salt tea consumption and esophageal cancer: A possible role of alkaline beverages in esophageal carcinogenesis
Author(s) -
Dar Nazir Ahmad,
Bhat Gulzar Ahmad,
Shah Idrees Ayoub,
Iqbal Beenish,
Rafiq Rumaisa,
Nabi Sumaiya,
Lone Mohd Maqbool,
Islami Farhad,
Boffetta Paolo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29204
Subject(s) - odds ratio , medicine , confidence interval , sodium bicarbonate , esophageal cancer , food science , cancer , chemistry
Salt tea is the most commonly used beverage in Kashmir, India, where esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the most common cancer. Salt tea is brewed in a unique way in Kashmir, usually with addition of sodium bicarbonate, which makes salt tea alkaline. As little information about the association between salt tea drinking and ESCC was available, we conducted a large‐scale case‐control study to investigate this association in Kashmir. We recruited 703 histologically confirmed cases of ESCC and 1664 controls individually matched to cases for age, sex, and district of residence. Conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Participants who consumed >1,250 ml day −1 showed an increased risk of ESCC (OR = 2.60, 95% CIs = 1.68–4.02). Samovar (a special vessel for the beverage preparation) users (OR = 1.77, 95% CIs 1.25–2.50) and those who ate cereal paste with salt tea (OR = 2.14, 95% CIs = 1.55–2.94) or added bicarbonate sodium to salt tea (OR = 2.12, 95% CIs = 1.33–3.39) were at higher risk of ESCC than others. When analysis was limited to alkaline tea drinkers only, those who both consumed cereal paste with salt tea and used samovar vessel were at the highest risk (OR = 4.58, 95% CIs = 2.04–10.28). This study shows significant associations of salt tea drinking and some related habits with ESCC risk.