Lee WT, et al. - Researchers assessed the link between prediagnosis alcohol drinking and the overall survival (OS) of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients as well as the impact of polymorphisms of two ethanol-metabolizing genes, ADH1B and ALDH2, on this association, by using Cox proportional hazards models. In this patient population, they observed a significant positive dose–response association between prediagnosis alcohol use and worse OS. The significance of this association was more for oropharyngeal cancer, hypopharyngeal cancer, and laryngeal cancer, vs oral cancer. The link between alcohol use and the poorer OS was primarily through its association with a higher stage of HNC at diagnosis among those who were alcohol drinkers. Among those with the fast ADH1B and the slow/nonfunctional ALDH2 genotype combination, findings revealed worst OS associated with alcohol use.