New research finds greater link between alcohol use and prostate cancer
Posted November 14, 2016 5:47 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – In the midst of another Movember fundraiser for men’s health and prostate cancer initiatives, a new study is linking alcohol consumption and prostate cancer.
This connection has been made before, but what’s new is a very clear dose-response relationship, according to the University of Victoria Centre for Addictions Research of BC (CARBC).
“Which means the risk is just as you say, ‘the more you drink, the bigger the risk,’ and we also have evidence that the association has been underestimated,” explains CARBC director Dr. Tim Stockwell.
The main reason it has been underestimated is because of what researchers call abstainer bias, where unhealthy former drinkers make current alcohol users look better by comparison.
“If you remove those people and you get the lifetime abstainers as the comparison group, then the risk for low volume drinkers increases three-fold,” Stockwell says.
However, he adds it’s not just prostate cancer heavy drinkers should worry about.
“All the cancers of the digestive system that are alcohol related, from the mouth through the throat and the esophagus and stomach and colon. And, also for women, breast cancer.”
“It’s the same sad story that alcohol is carcinogenic and the more you drink, the more likely, over time, you keep repeating that drinking and what it does to you, the risk is significant for all those cancers.
You can find the full report in the online journal BMC Cancer.
