Alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer

Alcohol causes cancer - ten percent of men are affected

11.04.2011

Alcohol increases the risk of cancer. This is the result of a recent study by international scientists with the participation of experts from the World Health Organization, the German Institute for Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DifE) and the German Cancer Research Center. Scientists warn of the significant health effects associated with alcohol consumption.

According to the results of the current study, alcohol accounts for ten percent of male cancers in Europe. The study results „Stress the importance of further strengthening current measures to reduce alcohol consumption in Europe and Germany“, said the researcher of DifE, Manuela Bergman. The study was published in the current issue of the journal „British Medical Journal“ released.

Link between alcohol consumption and cancer
The link between alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer was analyzed on the basis of data from the so-called EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). In the context of the EPIC study since the mid-1990s, hundreds of thousands of volunteers were regularly asked about their state of health and their alcohol consumption. A total of 363,988 male and female study participants from Denmark, Germany, England, France, Greece, Holland, Italy and Spain participated in the regular data collection. In order to be able to make concrete statements about the relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk, the data from the EPIC study were combined with two other data sets on the total number of cancers and the drinking habits of EU citizens. „We used three data sources to estimate how many cancer cases in the population are caused by the consumption of alcohol“, explained Manuela Bergman. It was clear to the experts from the beginning that there was a connection between the consumption of alcohol and cancer, since various studies have already proven in the past that liver, colon and breast cancer as well as cancer of the digestive system can be promoted or caused by alcohol , However, the number of cancers actually caused by alcohol and the critical amount at which alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk potential have remained unclear.

Ten percent of cancers in men alcohol
Here, the current study offers a remedy and provides concrete figures on the actually occurring alcohol-related cancers as well as indications for a tolerable level of alcohol consumption. Alcohol consumption caused about 21,500 cancer cases in women and 57,600 men in men in the eight countries studied in 2008 alone, the experts explained in their publication. Around ten percent of cancers in men and around three percent in women are due to alcohol consumption. In men tumors were mainly in the intestine, liver and upper digestive tract occurred, whereas in women also many cases of breast cancer were recorded. Of the 57,600 male alcoholic cancer patients, 33,000 drank more than two glasses of alcoholic beverage daily, the researchers said. Under glasses are to be understood in the usual gastronomy units of 0.33 liters for beer, 0.2 liters for wine and 2 centiliters for high-proof liquor. The limits recommended by the World Health Organization are one glass of alcoholic beverages per day for women and two glasses per day for men.

No safe limits for alcohol consumption
Those who move below this WHO limit consider the risk of alcohol-related cancers to be relatively in the frame, even if, according to the DifE researcher, Manuela Bergman, already „less alcohol (...) already the cancer risk“ can increase. Around 20 percent of alcohol-related cancers were found to have been consumed below WHO thresholds, according to the study, Bergman said. Overall, give it „no safe limit for alcohol consumption“, warned the nutritionist, stressing that significantly more cancers could be avoided if alcohol were completely eliminated. „Our results emphasize the importance of further strengthening current measures to reduce alcohol consumption in Europe and Germany“, the conclusion of the DifE scientist. The epidemiologist of the DifE, Madlen Schütze, added that according to the latest study results „already many cancers are preventable“ would be if the recommendations of the World Health Organization were taken into account.

Alcohol consumption in Europe particularly pronounced
In addition to the relationship between cancer and alcohol consumption, the study also shows that Europe still consumes the highest levels of alcohol per capita in the world today. In comparison with other European countries, alcohol consumption is highest in Germany. In Germany, about 44 percent of men said that they drink more than the WHO recommended amount. The Danes follow in second place, closely followed by the English. The drinking behavior of women is similar to that of men. Overall, a worrying finding, as the current study also reveals the significant health risks associated with increased alcohol consumption. According to the experts, around 6.5 percent of all deaths in Europe are attributable to alcohol consumption. With regard to the increased risk of cancer, the biologist Rudolf Kaaks from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg stated that he assumes an even greater risk than is expressed in the study. Because a possible dark figure is not taken into account and the study is based „though on a very large sample“, but it could „may well be that notorious drinkers are not among them.“ Therefore, it is possible that the alcohol-related cancer risk is actually far higher than assumed in the current study, the expert explained. (Fp)

Read about:
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer
World Cancer Day: More than 450,000 cancer diagnoses every year
Protection against cancer: Vegetable food is overrated?

Picture credits: Martin Gapa