DOSSIERS
Alcohol and cancer
Protective or carcinogenic?
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer
Beer reduces the risk of cancer
Alcohol and breast cancer
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer
A Dutch research group found that moderate alcohol consumption - and beer more so than wine - increases the risk of rectal cancer. On the other hand they did not find any link between drinking alcohol and cancer of the intestine (1) . The results however are contradicted by a Danish study in which they found no link between drinking beer and rectal cancer in women, while this link was indeed found in men. With regard to wine and spirits, these researchers did not find any link with the risk of rectal cancer, neither for women nor for men (2). Moderate beer drinking seems to increase the risk of cancer of the mouth and oesophagus while moderate wine drinking leaves the risk of these tumours undisturbed (3). Wine mainly seems to contain components that counteract the growth of tumours. Alcohol, that used to be associated with prostate cancer, has seemed not have any effect on the prostate in recent research (4). Overall there is thus no clear link between alcohol and cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.
Referenties (1)Prospective study on alcohol consumption and the risk of cancer of the colon and rectum in the Netherlands. Goldbohm et al. Cancer Causes Control 1994;vol.5, iss.2; p95-104. (2)Beer consumption and rectal cancer. Kabat GC. et al; Int. J. Epidemiol. 1986;15:494-501. (3)Population based cohort study of the association between alcohol intake and cancer of the upper digestive tract. Gronbaek M., British Medical Journal 1998;317:844-7. (4)Alcohol and other beverage use and prostate cancer risk among Canadian men. Jain MG et al.; Int. J. Cancer 1998;78(6):707-11.
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