Epidemiological data have not yet enabled physicians to look beyond age and race to identify men at increased risk for prostate cancer. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study of familial patterns of prostate cancer with self-reported data from a risk-factor questionnaire. There were 385 patients with histologically confirmed prostate cancer, and 385 race and age-matched (+/- 5 years) controls with other cancers. Family history, available for 378 patients and 383 controls, was positive for prostate cancer in 13.0% versus 5.7%, respectively. The difference was significant at p = 0.01. The over-all age-adjusted risk estimate for men with a first-degree relative with prostate cancer was significantly elevated (odds ratio of 2.41), as were the individual risk estimates for having a father or brother with prostate cancer (odds ratio of 2.24 and 2.66). Having a second-degree relative (grandfather or uncle) with prostate cancer also conferred elevated but not statistically significant risk. These data accord well with the few previously published case-control studies of familiarity of prostate cancer. On the basis of these findings, one should consider recommending participation in early detection programs for prostate cancer in a man whose father or brother has had the disease.

These results indicate that smoking cessation or less life-time smoking exposure affects the distribution of specific histologic subtypes of lung cancer, especially for women, and that smoking cessation may postpone the age at which lung cancer occurs.

Although the etiologic importance of tobacco in risk of upper aerodigestive malignancies is unques-tioned, quantification of subsite-specific risks is less well delineated. Risk estimates from this case-control study are derived from self-administered comprehensive risk factor questionnaires distributed to newly registered patients at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, Houston. Cases included 185 white patients with histologically confirmed squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aeradigestive tract. An equal number of age-frequency and sex-frequency matched patients was randomly selected from the same patient population excluding only patients with diagnoses of squamous cell carcinoma of any site. A statistically significant dose-response relationship for three categories of cigarette pack-years was evident for both males (odds ratios [ORJ = 1.8,4.0, and 7.5) and females (OR = 1.5,9.0, and 12.0). Highest risks were documented for laryngeal cancer (OR = 15.1) and lingual cancer (OR = 14.5). There was interaction between alcohol use and smoking among men, but no independent effect of alcohol consumption among either gender. After 15 years of smoking abstinence, males no longer exhibited increased risk (OR = 1.0) whereas the risk for females after 15 years of cessation was 1.5. There were also significantly increased risks among men associated with snuff dipping, cigar, and pipe use (OR = 3.4,2.8, and 1.8, respectively). The differences in the magnitude of the risk estimates and dose-response curves by subsite and by sex suggest a variable susceptibility to carcinogenic action. Cancer 61:203-208,1988. ESPITE THEIR anatomic contiguity, head and neck D cancers are a disparate and morphologically diverse group. Although risk factors for these cancers as a group have been fairly extensively studied, quantifica-tion of risk for specific sites is lacking, particularly with respect to tobacco exposures. Since not all sites within the head and neck area are equally susceptible to carcinogens , it is reasonable to assume that site-specific risks may differ. This study reports on quantification of risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of selected sites within the head and neck in a hospital-based case-control analysis, with particular reference to tobacco and alcohol exposures.