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Recently, the Monograph Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that there was sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of alcohol in animals and classified alcoholic beverages as carcinogenic to humans (Baan et al. 2007). In particular, the group confirmed, or newly established, the causal link between alcohol consumption and cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colorectum, and female breast. For all sites where alcohol’s causal role in cancer is established, there is evidence of a dose-response relationship, with relative risk rising linearly with an increasing volume of alcohol consumption (Corrao et al. 2004).
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has found a noticeable increase in alcohol consumption during holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s. Research published earlier this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine shows alcohol use among Americans has increased 4% since the pandemic, with heavy drinking rising by 20%. For other types of cancer, including prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and melanoma, for example, the findings aren’t as clear, Gapstur said. Panelists in the workshop and webinar believe that further research could help clarify the associations of alcohol with risk of cancer types for which the evidence is inconclusive. For all chronic disease categories for which detailed data are available, those data show that women have a higher risk of these conditions than men who have consumed the same amount of alcohol; however, the differences are small at lower levels of drinking (Rehm et al. 2010a). Alcoholic liver disease and alcohol-induced pancreatitis are other alcohol-specific disease categories that are of global importance.
Our new paper, published in Health Promotion International, reveals how researchers producing evidence of the harms of these industries have been intimidated because of their work. “Hepatocellular cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, and incidence is increasing. Alcohol use is well known to increase risk of hepatocellular cancer among individuals with obesity, who have hepatitis B or C virus infection, or who smoke,” Justice wrote. Ischemic diseases are all conditions that are related to the formation of blood clots, which prevent adequate blood flow to certain tissues. Zero (0) indicates that fewer than 500 alcohol-attributable DALYs in the disease category.
“We are worried that 10 to 20 years down the road, we're going to see a substantial increase in alcohol-related cancers,” Dr. Klein said. A person’s risk of alcohol-related cancers is influenced by their genes, specifically the genes that encode enzymes involved in metabolizing (breaking down) alcohol (27). After years of debate over the healthiness of drinking, overwhelming research suggests that less is more. All intimidatory activities we identified had a chilling effect on important public health work.
Alarmingly, reports suggest that there has been a nearly 80% increase in early-onset cancer cases worldwide since 1990. The old adage prevention is worth a pound of cure definitely holds weight in this situation,” she added. When the researchers analyzed moderate drinking further, they found that 41,300 of those cases could be attributed to light drinking, or consumption of 10 grams or less per day. Approximately 4% of cancers diagnosed worldwide in 2020 can be attributed to alcohol consumption, according to a new WHO report. Researchers and health professionals can do more to help break down these misconceptions, Dr. LoConte added. “We need to really make sure that we reinforce the message that all alcohol increases cancer risk,” she said.
It is still unclear, however, whether any defined consumption threshold exists below which no increased risk for cancer is evident (IARC 1988; Doll et al. 1999). Drinking 20 to 60 grams, two to six maverick house sober living drinks, of ethanol alcohol per day, which the authors defined as “risky drinking,” represented 39.4% of alcohol-attributable cancer cases. Moderate drinking – defined as 20 or fewer grams, or up to two drinks, per day – contributed to nearly 14%, or 1 in 7, cases. And the highest rates of alcohol-attributable cancers were among men who drank 30 to 50 grams of ethanol alcohol per day, and in women who consumed 10 to 30 grams every day.
Our findings show that corporate interests have worked tirelessly to thwart regulation of their products and actions by using intimidation tactics against public health researchers. But despite the significant personal and professional costs of working in an environment where their credibility is constantly questioned, researchers and advocates persevere. In most cases, even if delayed, researchers reported continuing with their public health work. One person may have a standard serving of 5 ounces of wine, while another may fill a 16-ounce wineglass to the brim, and both may report that they had one glass. The liver cancer the authors measured was hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of primary liver cancer – cancer that begins in your liver, rather than spreading to your liver from other organs.
