Heavy alcohol consumption is associated with increased cancer death risk

HEAVY alcohol consumption, specifically
three or more glasses of liquor a day, is
associated with an increased risk of death
from pancreatic cancer, according to a
report in the March 14 issue of Archives of
Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives
journals.
“Alcoholic beverage consumption — a
modifiable lifestyle factor — is causally
related to several cancers, including oral
cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver,
colorectum and female breast, ” the authors
write as background information in the
article. “Heavy alcohol consumption causes
acute and chronic pancreatitis but has
never been linked definitively to pancreatic
cancer. ”
Using data from the Cancer Prevention
Study II (CPS-II), Dr. Susan M. Gapstur and
colleagues from the American Cancer
Society, Atlanta, examined the association
between alcohol intake and pancreatic
cancer. The CPS-II is a long-term prospective
study of U.S. adults 30 years and older.
Initial data on alcohol consumption was
gathered in 1982, and based on follow-up
through 2006, there were 6,847 pancreatic
cancer deaths among one million
participants.
Of the million participants (453,770 men
and 576,697 women), 45.7 per cent of men
and 62.5 per cent of women were non-
drinkers. The analyses of men only and of
men and women combined showed
statistically significant increased risk of
pancreatic cancer death for consumption of
three drinks per day and four or more
drinks per day, whereas for women only
the estimated risk of death from pancreatic
cancer was statistically significant for
consumption of four or more drinks per
day.
Compared with non-drinkers, consuming
three or more drinks of liquor per day was
associated with an increased risk of
pancreatic cancer death in the total study
population, and consumption of two or
more drinks of liquor per day was
associated with an increased risk in both
never smokers and in those who had ever
smoked. This association was observed for
liquor consumption but not for beer or
wine.
In never smokers, there was a 36 per cent
higher risk of pancreatic cancer death
associated with consuming three or more
drinks a day compared with non-drinkers
for men and women combined. In those
who had ever smoked, there was a 16 per
cent higher risk of death from pancreatic
cancer after adjustment for smoking history
and other variables.
“Findings from the prospective study
presented herein strongly support the
hypothesis that alcohol consumption, in
particular heavy intake, also is an
independent risk factor for pancreatic
cancer, the fourth most common cause of
cancer mortality (death) in the United
States,” the authors conclude.