Colorectal Cancer News

Alcohol Consumption May Increase Risk of Breast and Colorectal Cancers

Alcoholic beverages, drunk by more than half of all American adults at least once a month, are suspected of increasing risk of breast or colorectal cancer because of findings from human, animal, and cell studies.

A new Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) evidence report points to several potential mechanisms by which alcohol may influence the development of these cancers but the importance of any one mechanism is not apparent at this time. Most studies examining the mechanisms connecting alcohol to cancer risk use animal models, which may not be directly applicable to humans.

The report’s principal investigators, Olu Oyesanmi, M.D., M.P.H, and David Snyder, Ph.D., of the AHRQ-supported ECRI Institute Evidence-based Practice Center in Plymouth Meeting, PA, also said that although the majority of the epidemiology studies reported that alcohol was associated with an increased risk of both breast and colorectal cancers, they could not discount the influence of other factors, such as diet and lifestyle.

The evidence review was commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For details, see Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk: Understanding Possible Mechanisms for Breast and Colorectal Cancers.

Reference:
Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk: Understanding Possible Mechanisms for Breast and Colorectal Cancers. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Public Health Service; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
November 2010

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