In the time period 1996-2004, we conducted a case-control study in Montevideo, 
Uruguay with the objective of exploring the role of foods and alcoholic 
beverages in the etiology of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (UADT). In 
brief, 563 male cases and 1099 male controls were frequency matched on age and 
residence using random sampling. All the participants were drawn from the 4 
major public hospitals in Montevideo. We used exploratory factor analysis among 
controls. Through Scree plot test, the model retained 4 factors, which were 
labeled as prudent, starchy plants, Western, and drinker. These dietary patterns 
explained 34.8% of the total variance. Whereas the prudent pattern was inversely 
associated with UADT cancer [odds ratios (OR) for the upper tertile vs. the 
lowest one 0.52, 95% confidence intervals 0.32-0.76, P value for trend = 
0.0005), the remaining patterns were significantly and positively associated 
with UADT cancers. We conclude that these patterns were similar among the oral 
and laryngeal cancers, both in the direction of the ORs and in the magnitude of 
the associations, suggesting that these cancer sites share the effect of dietary 
patterns in the etiology of cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract.