NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Aug 4 - An international team of researchers report that 3.6% of all cancer cases worldwide are related to alcohol drinking, resulting in 3.5% of all cancer deaths.
"A causal link has been established between alcohol drinking and cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, larynx, and breast," Dr. Paolo Boffetta, of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, and colleagues write. "For other cancers, a causal association is suspected."
In the current study, the researchers estimated the number of cancer cases and deaths in 2002 attributable to alcohol consumption by sex and WHO sub-region. The team collected data on relative risks of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum, larynx, and female breast from recent meta- and pooled analyses. The Global Burden of Disease project was used to obtain data on the prevalence of drinkers.
There were 389,100 cases of cancer attributable to alcohol drinking in 2002, representing 3.6% of all cancer, they report in the August 15th issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Of these, 5.2% cases were in men and 1.7% were in women. The number of cancer deaths attributable to alcohol was 232,900, representing 3.5% of all cancer deaths.
More than 60% of alcohol-related cancers in men were in the upper digestive tract, and approximately 60% of alcohol-associated cancers in women were in the breast.
The burden of cancer attributable to alcohol drinking was especially high in Central and Eastern Europe.
"The burden of alcohol-associated cancer should be considered in the light of the evidence that alcohol drinking modifies the risk of numerous other diseases," Dr. Boffetta and colleagues concluded.
"On the other hand, there is strong evidence that moderate consumption of alcohol reduces the risk of ischemic heart disease, ischemic stroke, and cholelithiasis."
Last Updated: 2006-08-03 13:03:56 -0400 (Reuters Health)
Int J Cancer 2006;119:884-887.
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