ArticleNature communications2020
A multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis investigating smoking and alcohol consumption in oral and oropharyngeal cancer.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 138 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrating cell-type-specific gene expression and genome-wide associations identifies risk genes for schizophrenia.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Alcohol Exposure and Disease Associations: A Mendelian Randomization and Meta-Analysis on Weekly Consumption and Problematic Drinking.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Maternal smoking, consumption of alcohol, and caffeinated beverages during pregnancy and the risk of childhood brain tumors: a meta-analysis of observational studies.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Alcohol consumption and its association with cancer, cardiovascular, liver and brain diseases: a systematic review of Mendelian randomization studies.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2024Pooled it
- The incidence of oral cavity cancer in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2023Pooled it
- Causal effects of education attainment on oral and oropharyngeal cancer: New evidence from a meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Global burden of lip and oral cavity cancer attributable to behavioral risk factors, 1990-2021: a systematic analysis based on the GBD 2021 database.Oral and maxillofacial surgery · 2026Article
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea Associated with Periodontitis: Evidence from Mendelian Randomization and Salivary Proteomics.Journal of proteome research · 2026Article
- Analysis of oral microbiome characteristics and their correlation with oral health diseases.Medicine · 2026Article
- The advent of precision nutrigeroscience in cancer: from clinic towards molecular biology.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- Redefining oropharyngeal cancer in the HPV era: integrating precision medicine and immunotherapeutic frontiers.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026Review
- Prognostic heterogeneity of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer in a Taiwanese population.BMC cancer · 2026Article
- Association of alcohol and different types of alcoholic beverages on the risk of buccal mucosa cancer in Indian men: a multicentre case-control study.BMJ global health · 2025Observational
- Global burden and trends of common head and neck cancers between 1990 and 2021: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Noninvasive and Sensitive Biosensor for the Detection of Oral Cancer Prognostic Biomarkers.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2025Article
- Reassessing the link between adiposity and head and neck cancer: a Mendelian randomization study.eLife · 2025Article
- Analysis of lip and oral cavity cancer burden between China and the global from 1990 to 2021 and projections for the next fifteen years.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- HPV-driven cancer: from epidemiology to the HPV-driven tumor board proposal, everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025Review
- PLGA-based herb Toosendanin delivery system for efficient therapy of oral squamous cell carcinoma.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Causal association between periodontitis and oral cancer: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Discover oncology · 2025Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 9 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The independent effects of smoking and alcohol in head and neck cancer are not clear, given the strong association between these risk factors. Their apparent synergistic effect reported in previous observational studies may also underestimate independent effects. Here we report multivariable Mendelian randomization performed in a two-sample approach using summary data on 6,034 oral/oropharyngeal cases and 6,585 controls from a recent genome-wide association study. Our results demonstrate strong evidence for an independent causal effect of smoking on oral/oropharyngeal cancer (IVW OR 2.6, 95% CI = 1.7, 3.9 per standard deviation increase in lifetime smoking behaviour) and an independent causal effect of alcohol consumption when controlling for smoking (IVW OR 2.1, 95% CI = 1.1, 3.8 per standard deviation increase in drinks consumed per week). This suggests the possibility that the causal effect of alcohol may have been underestimated. However, the extent to which alcohol is modified by smoking requires further investigation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.