Abstract
A population based case-control study was conducted to determine whether risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in the absence of HIV infection is related to the previous use of tobacco, alcohol or recreational drugs. A total of 378 residents of Los Angeles County who were diagnosed with high- or intermediate-grade NHL were compared with individually age-, race- and sex-matched neighbourhood control subjects with regard to history of use of tobacco products, alcohol and ten specific recreational drugs. Risk of NHL among women decreased with increased consumption of alcoholic beverages (trend P = 0.03), with risk 50% lower among those consuming five or more drinks per week than among non-drinkers. Cocaine, amphetamines, Quaaludes and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) were each associated with a significantly increased risk of NHL in men with risk greater among those with more frequent use of these drugs. Confounding factors could not be excluded in these findings. The use of multiple types of drugs was also associated with a significantly increased risk of NHL in men (trend P = 0.005) with risk greatest among those using five or more types of drugs (odds ratio = 5.8, 95% confidence limits = 1.2-28.4); among these drugs, cocaine use appeared to account for the elevated risk of NHL among men based on multivariable analyses.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nelson, R., Levine, A., Marks, G. et al. Alcohol, tobacco and recreational drug use and the risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Br J Cancer 76, 1532–1537 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1997.590
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1997.590
This article is cited by
-
Genetic variation in N-acetyltransferases 1 and 2, cigarette smoking, and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Cancer Causes & Control (2010)
-
Recreational amphetamine use and risk of HIV-related non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Cancer Causes & Control (2009)
-
Lymphoma survival patterns by WHO subtype in the United States, 1973–2003
Cancer Causes & Control (2008)
-
Epidemiology of non-Hodgkin?s lymphoma (NHL): trends, geographic distribution, and etiology
Annals of Hematology (2005)
-
Tobacco use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma: results from a population-based case–control study in the San Francisco Bay Area, California
Cancer Causes & Control (2005)