LONDON: Even the slightest amount of alcohol has now been found to increase the risk of certain cancers in women and male smokers.
While in women, light to moderate drinking — consuming just one drink per day was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, in men, even the slightest amount of alcohol increased risk of cancers in those who had smoked.
A team of US researchers based at Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston used data from two large US studies that tracked the health of 88,084 women and 47,881 men for up to 30 years.
They assessed risk of total cancer as well as known alcohol related cancers including cancer of the colorectum, female breast, liver, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophagus.
Light to moderate drinking was defined as up to one standard drink or 15g alcohol per day for women and up to two standard drinks or 30g alcohol per day for men.
One standard drink is roughly equivalent to a small (118ml) glass of wine or a 355ml bottle of beer.
During the follow-up period, a total of 19,269 and 7,571 cancers were diagnosed in women and men, respectively.
