Cancer

Cancer is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems.


Cancer is not just one disease but many diseases. There are more than 100 different types of cancer. Most cancers are named for the organ or type of cell in which they start. There is evidence that excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages or binge drinking is associated with increased morbidity and mortality from
several forms of cancer.  Low amounts of wine on the other hand, are not associated with the risk of any cancer site with the possible exception of breast cancer for women and cancers of upper gastrointestinal tract (GIT) such as the mouth and throat as well as the liver.  An increased risk for the GIT cancers is observed with all alcoholic beverages, which is a linear relationship (the greater the amount, the higher the risk), and especially in combination with smoking.

 

With regards to breast cancer and alcoholic beverages, the research results vary widely since not only the amount of alcohol but also other co-factors as well as drinking pattern play an important role and have to be taken into consideration. 

 

The majority of epidemiological studies, however, show a linear increase in the relative risk of breast cancer with an increasing dose of alcohol but the magnitude of the effect is small. An increased breast cancer risk is observed in women with additional co-factors such as genetic disposition, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), low folate intake, overweight and smoking.

 

A meta-analysis for example, examined the influence of hormones on breast cancer risk and found that alcoholic beverages (> 20g/d) might increase the breast cancer risk only among women who were concurrently using menopausal hormone therapy (HT) and /or having estrogen receptors positive tumors. These findings indicate that a hormone-related mechanism may mediate the relation between alcohol drinking and an increased breast cancer risk. Among women who had ceased using HT, the risk associated with 2 or more drinks per day was not apparent.

Another factor to be considered is folate intake. Several studies have shown an inverse relation between folate intake and cancer. Accordingly, some research results found a significant interaction between the consumption of alcoholic beverages and folate intake where alcohol seems to increase the risk significantly only for those individuals with low folate intake.


All the studies show that the knowledge about the causes of breast cancer is still very incomplete and as scientists from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the USA, recently pointed out, some other (possible confounding) factors have not been considered in the research relating the consumption of alcoholic beverages to breast cancer:

  1. In the epidemiological data provided, the intake of alcoholic beverages is usually under-reported by subjects (which could exaggerate the harm associated with light drinking).
  2. In most studies, the pattern of drinking (regularly and moderately vs. binge drinking with a similar total weekly alcohol consumption) as well as beverage type have generally not been taken into account. However, this aspect of drinking pattern is important given that binge drinking is associated with much higher blood alcohol concentrations and acetaldehyde accumulation (a known carcinogen) and production of free radicals (reactive oxygen species). Considering that the blood alcohol level may be the most important mechanism for effects on cancer risk, the pattern by which a woman consumes a given amount of alcohol is particularly relevant in interpreting associations.
  3. In addition, epidemiological studies usually provide data only for a short period of time, while the development of cancer may relate to exposures over many decades.


The authors concluded that based on scientific evidence, in post menopausal women, the increase in the risk of breast cancer, if there is any at all, is small..

 

The relationship between wine consumption and cancer is even more complex. It is not yet completely proven that wine drinkers have a lower risk for cancer than drinkers of other alcoholic beverages. However, epidemiological studies indicate a lower cancer risk for wine drinkers for most cancer sites compared to drinkers of other alcoholic beverages. Moderate wine intake may actually reduce the risk of oesophagus, thyroid, lung, kidney and colorectal cancers as well as Non-Hodgkin’s Lyphoma. To what extent differences in drinking pattern or certain beverage-specific ingredients are responsible still needs to be determined. Concerning breast cancer, there may also be a protective role for wine.

What might be a possible mechanism for the protective effect of wine? Damage to the DNA of cells by chemicals in the environment and food as well as by the physical environment can lead to cancer. Various experimental studies suggest that the phenolic compounds in wine may protect the DNA of cells of body tissues from damage or may stop the growth of cells with damaged DNA. Complete sequencing of the grapevine genome has revealed genes that are responsible for the synthesis of health-promoting compounds (resveratrol and other polyphenols). 
Another potential explanation for the observation that in some studies  red wine does not appear to increase breast cancer risk, may be the fact that red wine is a nutritional aromatase inhibitor (AI).  Aromatase inhibitors (AI) prevent the conversion of androgens to estrogens, thus a hormone-related mechanism might be involved. 

 

In summary, the cancer risk should not be evaluated in isolation, one particular food factor (like wine consumption) should not be analysed out of context with its cultural and culinary habits. The effect of wine on cancer risk also depends on whether it is consumed with or without a meal and the  nature of other foods consumed. There needs to be a distinction between different types of cancer and the influence of lifestyle (according to the World Cancer Research Fund, more than 1/3 of the cancers could be prevented by a healthy diet, regular physical activity and no weight gain) and genetic factors needs to be assessed.  

 

In future studies, the focus should be more on the pattern of drinking, not just the average weekly amount of alcohol, and thus, have a better understanding of how moderate drinking impacts cancer risk. This will allow consumers to make better informed decisions about the risks and benefits of moderate wine consumption in the context of their overall health and at different stages of their life.

 

The above summary provide an overview of the topic, for more details and specific questions, please refer to the articles in the database.

 

 

 

 

BACKGROUND: The impact of alcohol consumption on breast cancer (BC) prognosis remains unclear. METHODS: The authors examined short-term alcohol intake in relation to recurrence and mortality in 3659 women who were diagnosed with stage I-IV BC from 2003 to 2015 in the Pathways Study. Alcohol drinking in the past 6 months was assessed at cohort entry (mean, 2 months postdiagnosis) and 6 months later using a food-frequency questionnaire. Study end points were recurrence and death from BC, cardiovascular disease, and all causes. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: Over an average follow-up of 11.2 years, 524 recurrences and 834 deaths (369 BC-specific and 314 cardiovascular disease-specific) occurred. Compared with…
PURPOSE: Studies have shown an inverse association between alcohol consumption and kidney cancer risk. We postulate that this inverse association may be further influenced by other risk factors. METHODS: We used an Australian cohort, the 45 and Up Study, recruited between 2005 and 2009 to investigate the association between alcohol consumption, and other potential risk factors and kidney cancer incidence. The median follow-up was 5.4 years. RESULTS: Of the 267,357 participants aged </=45 years living in New South Wales, 497 were diagnosed with kidney cancer. There was a significant inverse association between alcohol consumption and risk of kidney cancer (P = .027), and a significant inverse dose-response relationship (P = .011). There was a significant interaction between alcohol consumption and…
BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption has been associated with increased risks of certain site-specific cancers and decreased risks of some other cancers. There is, however, little reliable evidence as to whether the alcohol-associated risks for specific cancers are modified by smoking, body mass index (BMI) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) use. METHODS: In the prospective UK Million Women Study, 1,233,177 postmenopausal women without prior cancer, mean age 56 (SD 5) years, reported their alcohol consumption in median year 1998 (IQR 1998-1999), and were followed by record-linkage for incident cancer. 438,056 women who drank no alcohol or < 1 drink/week were excluded. Cox regression yielded adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for 21 cancers by alcohol amount; statistical significance of…
Alcohol consumption is associated with oxidative stress and an increased risk of carcinoma of the upper aero-digestive tract (UADT). Recently, it has been found that some microorganisms in the human oral cavity may locally metabolize ethanol, forming acetaldehyde, a carcinogenic metabolite of alcohol. In a cohort of patients first visited for UADT cancers, we estimated their alcohol consumption by measuring Ethyl Glucuronide/EtG (a long-lasting metabolite of ethanol) in the hair and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin/CDT (short-term index of alcohol intake) in the serum. Moreover, we analyzed, by culture-based methods, the presence of Neisseria subflava, Streptococcus mitis, Candida albicans, and glabrata (microorganisms generating acetaldehyde) in the oral cavity. According to the EtG values, we correlated drinking alcohol with endogenous oxidative stress and the…
BACKGROUND: Moderate to heavy alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The etiologic role of genetic variation in genes involved in ethanol metabolism has not been established, with little information available among women of African ancestry. METHODS: Our analysis from the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) Consortium included 2889 U.S. Black women who were current drinkers at the time of breast cancer diagnosis (N cases = 715) and had available genetic data for four ethanol metabolism genomic regions (ADH, ALDH, CYP2E1, and ALDH2). We used generalized estimating equations to calculate genetic effects, gene* alcohol consumption (>/= 7drinks/week vs. < 7/week) interactions, and joint main plus interaction effects of up to 23,247 variants in…
Page 1 of 75

Disclaimer

The authors have taken reasonable care in ensuring the accuracy of the information herein at the time of publication and are not responsible for any errors or omissions. Read more on our disclaimer and Privacy Policy.