Salted meat consumption and the risk of laryngeal cancer.

A hospital-based, case-control study of laryngeal cancer was conducted in the Oncology Institute, Montevideo, Uruguay, during 1988-1992, in which 143 new cases and 460 controls were interviewed. The study was restricted to males. As in most previous studies tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking were the major risk factors. Past and current salted meat consumption was associated with increased risks of laryngeal cancer, after controlling for the effects of tobacco and alcohol. Cigarette smoking and consumption of salted meat appeared to increase the risk of laryngeal cancer in a multiplicative fashion. Fresh meat consumption (beef) was also associated with an increased risk of laryngeal cancer (OR 2.0). After controlling for fresh meat ingestion, the estimates for salted meat remained significant.