Link weak between alcohol and lung cancer
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Pooled data from seven studies on diet and cancer provide weak evidence of a link between alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk—mainly confined to men who never smoked.
Although smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, not much is known about risk factors for nonsmokers, and modifying factors for smokers, Dr. Jo L. Freudenheim from the State University of New York at Buffalo and colleagues explain in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They note that mortality due to lung cancer is high in studies of alcoholics, “but the greater risk may be explained, in part or entirely, by the fact that the people in these populations were also more likely to smoke.”
In their analyses, Freudenheim’s team made every effort to separate the effect of smoking from that of alcohol on lung cancer risk.
According to the investigators, analyses based on 399,767 study participants and 3137 lung cancer cases revealed a “slightly greater” overall risk for lung cancer in men and women consuming two drinks or more per day (30 grams or more per day) compared with no alcohol consumption. The risk was increased 21 percent for men and 16 percent for women.
On the other hand, among men who never smoked, consumption of 15 grams or more of alcohol per day was association with a 6-fold increased risk of developing lung cancer.
This finding is “notable,” the authors write, “although the absolute risk of lung cancer in this group is, of course, small.”
The pooled data do not provide evidence of an association between alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk in smokers, who constitute the largest portion of lung cancer cases.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, September 2005.
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