Influence of mate drinking, hot beverages and diet on esophageal cancer risk in south america

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Abstract
To estimate the effects of consuming hot beverages, including mate (an infusion of the herb Ilex paraguayensis), tea, coffee and coffee with milk, and other food items on esophageal cancer risk, we analyzed data from 830 cases and 1,779 controls participating in a series of 5 hospital‐based case‐control studies of squamous‐cell carcinoma of the esophagus conducted in high‐risk areas of South America. After adjusting for the strong effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption, both heavy mate drinking (>1 l/day) and self‐reported very hot mate drinking were significantly associated with esophageal cancer risk in men and women. The magnitude and strength of the association for mate amount and, to a lesser extent, mate temperature were higher for women than men. The joint effects of mate amount and mate temperature were more than multiplicative, following a statistically significant synergistic interaction (p = 0.02) which was particularly evident among heavy drinkers (>1.50 l/day) of very hot mate (odds ratio = 4.14, 95% confidence interval: 2.24–7.67) compared to light drinkers (Int. J. Cancer 88:658–664, 2000.