Characteristics of cases and subcohort members in the Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer (NLCS), 1986–2002
| Exposure variables and potential confounders | Subcohort | Cases | |||
| (n = 3962)* | OSCC (n = 107)* | OAC (n = 145)* | GCA (n = 164)* | GNCA (n = 491)* | |
| Age at baseline (years) | 61.3 (4.2) | 62.5 (4.2) | 61.6 (4.1) | 61.5 (4.1) | 62.5 (4.1) |
| Sex | |||||
| Men (n (%)) | 1944 (49.1) | 59 (55.1) | 114 (78.6) | 140 (85.4) | 331 (67.4) |
| Women (n (%)) | 2018 (50.9) | 48 (44.9) | 31 (21.4) | 24 (14.6) | 160 (32.6) |
| Abstainer from alcohol (n (%)) | 943 (23.8) | 16 (15.0) | 25 (17.2) | 29 (17.7) | 107 (21.8) |
| Alcohol consumers: | |||||
| Ethanol intake (g/day) | 13.6 (15.1) | 27.6 (27.9) | 17.3 (18.3) | 16.6 (15.5) | 15.9 (17.2) |
| Beer intake (glasses/day) | 0.3 (0.8) | 0.8 (1.8) | 0.5 (1.1) | 0.5 (1.0) | 0.5 (1.2) |
| Wine intake (glasses/day) | 0.5 (0.8) | 0.6 (1.1) | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.4 (0.7) | 0.4 (0.8) |
| Liquor intake (glasses/day) | 0.5 (0.8) | 1.1 (1.7) | 0.7 (1.0) | 0.7 (0.9) | 0.6 (0.9) |
| Cigarette smoking status | |||||
| Never smoker (n (%)) | 1460 (36.9) | 22 (20.6) | 28 (19.3) | 28 (17.1) | 113 (23.0) |
| Former smoker (n (%)) | 1425 (36.0) | 31 (29.0) | 70 (48.3) | 80 (48.8) | 201 (40.9) |
| Current smoker (n (%)) | 1077 (27.2) | 54 (50.5) | 47 (32.4) | 56 (34.2) | 177 (36.1) |
| Ever cigarette smokers: | |||||
| Frequency of cigarette smoking (n/day) | 15.3 (10.3) | 18.3 (10.3) | 20.1 (12.6) | 17.5 (11.1) | 16.5 (10.4) |
| Duration of cigarette smoking (years) | 31.6 (12.2) | 36.9 (10.5) | 34.0 (11.0) | 34.9 (11.4) | 34.7 (11.8) |
| Pack-years of cigarette smoking (n) | 22.7 (17.7) | 30.3 (19.0) | 30.9 (20.4) | 27.2 (18.0) | 26.3 (19.2) |
| Level of education | |||||
| Primary (n (%)) | 1104 (27.9) | 34 (31.8) | 37 (25.5) | 45 (27.4) | 185 (37.7) |
| Lower vocational (n (%)) | 868 (21.9) | 22 (20.6) | 37 (25.5) | 42 (25.6) | 117 (23.8) |
| Secondary and medium vocational (n (%)) | 1420 (35.8) | 38 (35.5) | 49 (33.8) | 45 (27.4) | 142 (28.9) |
| University and higher vocational (n (%)) | 570 (14.4) | 13 (12.2) | 22 (15.2) | 32 (19.5) | 47 (9.6) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 25.0 (3.1) | 24.2 (3.6) | 26.3 (3.4) | 25.7 (3.0) | 24.9 (3.2) |
| Non-occupational physical activity (min/day) | 73 (60) | 68 (65) | 74 (58) | 86 (78) | 80 (71) |
| Energy intake (kJ/day) | |||||
| Men | 9090 (2130) | 8703 (2033) | 9054 (2025) | 8834 (2160) | 9166 (2112) |
| Women | 7063 (1651) | 7406 (1806) | 6981 (1807) | 7445 (1510) | 6995 (1510) |
| Tea consumption (cups/day) | 2.8 (2.0) | 2.7 (2.4) | 2.6 (2.3) | 2.3 (1.8) | 2.8 (1.9) |
| Fruit consumption (g/day) | 177 (120) | 130 (108) | 169 (135) | 154 (116) | 164 (125) |
| Vegetable consumption (g/day) | 194 (83) | 189 (76) | 187 (83) | 188 (84) | 188 (81) |
| Legume consumption (g/day) | 8 (12) | 7 (10) | 10 (12) | 9 (13) | 8 (11) |
| Fish consumption (g/day) | 13 (15) | 14 (13) | 15 (19) | 15 (20) | 14 (19) |
| Red meat consumption (g/day) | 87 (40) | 93 (41) | 90 (37) | 92 (45) | 91 (41) |
| Meat product consumption (g/day) | 13 (15) | 14 (14) | 14 (15) | 15 (16) | 15 (16) |
| Family history of oesophageal or gastric cancer (n (%)) | 296 (7.5) | 10 (9.4) | 18 (12.4) | 14 (8.5) | 63 (12.8) |
| Reported long-term use of NSAIDs (n (%)) | 262 (6.6) | 7 (6.5) | 11 (7.6) | 9 (5.5) | 23 (4.7) |
| Reported long-term use of LOS-relaxing medication (n (%)) | 564 (14.2) | 17 (15.9) | 28 (19.3) | 25 (15.2) | 77 (15.7) |
*The number of subcohort members or cases used in age- and sex-adjusted analyses and multivariable analyses of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking.
Values are given as mean (SD); for categorical variables n (%) is presented.
GCA, gastric cardia adenocarcinoma; GNCA, gastric non-cardia adenocarcinoma; LOS, lower oesophageal sphincter; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; OAC, oesophageal adenocarcinoma; OSCC, oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.