Introduction Alcohol consumption is related to an increased risk of several types of cancer. The evidence for an association with other cancer types remains controversial. Alcohol consumption is common in Lithuania: 40% of men drank ≥60 g of pure alcohol on a single occasion at least once per month in 2006. Its effect may be reduced significantly by changing the lifestyle. The present study was initiated to assess the relation between alcohol consumption, other behavioural and metabolic risk factors, and cancer risk.

Methods Two cohorts—Kaunas-Rotterdam Intervention Study and Multifactorial Ischaemic Heart Disease Prevention Study - are included. Kaunas-Rotterdam Intervention Study is a WHO-coordinated prospective cohort study of a random sample of 2447 men aged 45-59, living in Kaunas (Lithuania), who took part in a cardiovascular screening programme in 1972–1974. The Multifactorial Ischaemic Heart Disease Prevention Study was carried out in 1976–1980 among 5933 Kaunas men, aged 40–59. All participants underwent physical examination; information on smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, etc was obtained via interview. Study subjects were followed up for 30 years (1978–2008) using National Cancer and Population Registers.

Results Study design will be presented including preliminary results on the relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.

Conclusions The strengths of this study are: the extensive data set from two population-based studies (among the first epidemiological studies carried out in the former Soviet Union); uniform and complete prediagnostic data for exposure factors and possible confounders; and long follow-up. The limitation is the unavailable personal identification numbers in Lithuania in the 1970s.