Maté Consumption and Risk of Cancer: a Multi-site Case-Control Study in Uruguay

In the time period 1990-2004 we conducted a multisite case-control study in order to examine the relationshipof maté consumption and risk of 13 cancer sites in Montevideo, Uruguay. The study included 13,201 participants(8,875 cases and 4,326 controls) drawn from the four major public hospitals in the city of Montevideo. Newlydiagnosed and microscopically confirmed cases of cancers of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon,rectum, larynx, lung, female breast, cervix uteri, prostate, bladder and kidney were included in the study. Controlswere drawn from the same hospitals and in the same time period and were afflicted by non-neoplastic conditionsnot related with tobacco smoking or alcohol drinking and without recent changes in their diets. Odds ratios formaté consumption was directly associated with cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT), esophagus,stomach, larynx, lung, cervix uteri, prostate, bladder, and kidney. In conclusion these results suggest thatchemicals, like benzo[a]pyrene, could be responsible of the carcinogenic effect of maté in the above mentionedcancer sites.