Risk of cancer increases with every drink, research shows

ONE in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 cancers in women across western Europe are caused by drinking, according to new research.

While even small amounts increase the risk, drinking above recommended limits causes the majority of cancer cases linked to alcohol. Even former drinkers are still at risk of cancer, including of the oesophagus, breast, mouth and bowel.

Guidelines state that men should drink no more than three to four units a day while women should not go over two to three units a day.

But research, published in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found cancer risks at even lower levels.

Experts analysed data from eight European countries and worked out what proportion of men and women were drinking above the recommended guidelines.

The research found that men in Germany were the most likely to exceed three units a day (43.8%), followed by Denmark (43.6%) and Britain (41.1%).

Among women, Germans were also the most likely to drink over 1.5 units per day (43.5%), again followed by Denmark (41%) and Britain (37.7%).

Cancers of the pharynx, oesophagus and voice box are most commonly caused by alcohol consumption.

Overall, 3% of cancers in men were linked to drinking less than three units of alcohol a day but more than 18% were due to drinking more than three units per day.

In women, 1% of cancers were down to drinking less than 1.5 units of alcohol a day while 4% were due to drinking more than 1.5 units.

Some 17% of bowel cancers in men were linked to drinking as were 4% of cases in women, with 5% of breast cancers in women also due to drinking.

Even more cancers were thought to be partly attributable to drinking, and for every additional drink a day, the risks went up.

The authors of the study, from universities and hospitals across Europe, said: “Our data show that many cancer cases could have been avoided if alcohol consumption is limited to two alcoholic drinks per day in men and one alcoholic drink per day in women, which are the recommendations of many health organisations.

“And even more cancer cases would be prevented if people reduced their alcohol intake to below recommended guidelines or stopped drinking alcohol at all.”

The research is part of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC), one of the largest-ever studies into the links between diet and cancer.

It involved more than 360,000 men and women who were mostly aged 35 to 70 at the start of the study.

Their alcohol intake at recruitment stage in the 1990s was noted, and the follow-up examined how many developed cancer.

Alcohol creates a chemical when it is broken down by the body which can damage DNA and increase the risk of cancer.

Naomi Allen, of Oxford University, who works on the EPIC study, said: “This research supports existing evidence that alcohol causes cancer and that the risk increases even with drinking moderate amounts. The results from this study reflect the impact of people’s drinking habits about 10 years ago. People are drinking even more now than then and this could lead to more people developing cancer because of alcohol in the future.”

In 2008, current and former alcohol consumption caused about 57,600 cases of cancer of the upper digestive tract, bowel and liver in men across the countries examined for the project.