Light drinking linked to increase risk of cancer in smokers

A new study suggests that even light to moderate drinking can increase the risk of developing alcohol related cancers in men and women who smoke.

Heavy alcohol consumption has been linked to increased risk of several cancers.

The association between light to moderate drinking and overall cancer risk is less clear. The role of alcohol independent of smoking has not been settled as yet.

In the study, a team of US researchers based at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital studied and tracked the health of 88,084 women and 47,881 men for up to 30 years.

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.

During the follow-up period, a total of 19,269 and 7,571 cancers were diagnosed in women and men, respectively.

The researchers found that overall, light to moderate drinking was associated with a small but non-significant increased risk of total cancer in both men and women, regardless of smoking history.

For alcohol-related cancers, risk was increased among light and moderate drinking men who had ever smoked, but not among men who never smoked.

However, even in never smoking women, risk of alcohol-related cancers, mainly breast cancer, increased even within the range of up to one drink a day.

Jurgen Rehm of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health said that the large study sheds further light on the relationship between light to moderate drinking and cancer.

Rehm said that people with a family history of cancer should consider reducing their intake to below recommended limits or even abstaining altogether, given the well established link between moderate drinking and alcohol-related cancers.

The story is published in the journal BMJ.