Epidemiological trends in digestive cancers compared to trends in alcohol consumption. Facts from Romania: correlation or coincidence?

Abstract

Cancer has emerged as the leading cause of death in human populations, according to recent estimations. Epidemiological studies emphasized the role of life style and of environmental factors in promoting the risk for digestive cancers. The contribution of alcohol was highly suspected. Even for digestive cancers with dominant infection etiology, like liver cancer and gastric cancer, the contribution of alcohol should be assessed. At population level there is therefore a need to compare trends in epidemiological data of gastrointestinal cancers and data on alcohol consumption, in order to extrapolate any causative relationship. The purpose of this review was to analyze the time trend of digestive cancers in Romania, in terms of mortality rates (between 1955-2012), and incidence rates (between 2008-2012), in males and females, and to analyze the alcohol consumption data, aiming to find out if there is any association.