Yale Bulletin and Calendar

August 26, 2005|Volume 34, Number 1

Drinking alcohol may lower risk
of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

People who drink alcohol have a lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) than non-drinkers, write researchers at Yale's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH) in an article published in June in Lancet Oncology.

Led by former EPH graduate student Lindsay M. Morton of the National Cancer Institute, the research team found that the protective effect of alcohol did not vary by type of alcohol consumed, and did not increase along with alcohol consumption. However, the protective effect of alcohol did vary by NHL subtype, and was greatest for Burkitt's lymphoma. Age, sex, family history of NHL, and history of cigarette smoking did not reduce the effect of alcohol consumption on NHL risk.

The findings come at a time when NHL incidence is rising throughout the world. In developed countries, NHL is the sixth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women. Previous studies examining the relationship between alcohol consumption and NHL risk have been inconsistent, likely due to small sample size resulting from stratification by NHL subtype and type of alcohol consumed, say the researchers.

"This study with a large sample size allows us with sufficient statistical power to analyze the data by type of alcohol consumed and disease subtype," says principal investigator Tongzhang Zheng, associate professor of epidemiology at EPH.

Susan T. Mayne, a nutrition epidemiologist at EPH and an author on the study, says that further studies are needed to confirm the findings and to determine whether certain lifestyle factors or alcohol's immunomodulatory effects explain the association between alcohol consumption and decreased NHL risk.

Other authors on the study included Theodore R. Holford, the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Public Health. Authors from other institutions included Elizabeth A. Holly, Brian C.H. Chiu, Adele Seniori Costantini, Emanuele Stagnaro, Eleanor V. Willett, Luigino Dal Maso, Diego Serraino, Ellen T. Chang, Wendy Cozen, Scott Davis, Richard K. Severson, Leslie Bernstein, Fred R. Dee, James R. Cerhan and Patricia Hartge.

The National Cancer Institute funded the study.

-- By Karen Peart

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Margaret Grey is named dean of School of Nursing

Benson to step down as dean of School of Art after this year

Team discovers new planet in the outer solar system

Grant will fund center for study of nervous system

Study: Alligator eggs show effect of oxygen on development

Yale Librarian Prochaska appointed to a second term

New master's program prepares nurses for leadership roles

Exhibit explores the 18th-century 'worlds' of Francis Wheatley

Private portrait miniatures showcase the faces of public figures

Gallery hosting festive open house . . .

Architecture gallery to feature traveling art show 'Ant Farm'

Sterling Library launches new academic year with two exhibits

Researchers create powerful tool for decoding gene functions

Galapagos tortoises more diverse than once believed, say scientists

Team identifies 'signatures' of protons in water

'Canary Database' shows animals offer health warnings for humans

Team digitally reconstructs long-extinct 'Lamp Shell'

'Gene trapping' reveals how flower development is controlled

Discovery may aid development of treatment for melanoma

Drinking alcohol may lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Lyme disease prevention program launched in Connecticut

For 35 students, summer was a time of service in New Haven

IN MEMORIAM

John Ostrom: He revolutionized field of paleontology

Robert Abelson: Psychologist was adviser to presidential candidates

Greer Allen: University printer was inspiration to School of Art students