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in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Medical validation:
September 05, 2022
Although several studies have already shown the obvious relationship between alcohol and cancer, this recent work shows how modifying alcohol consumption directly impacts cancer risk.
According to the WHO, alcohol is the second preventable cause of cancer mortality after tobacco in France. It would thus be responsible for 11% of cancers in men and 4.5% of cancers in women. A real public health problem, which the medical journal JAMA took up in a study on the effects of changes in alcohol consumption.
4,513,746 adults participated in the study
To arrive at this observation, scientists analyzed nearly 4,513,746 adults in Korea. The participants, aged over 40, were sorted by group according to their alcohol consumption: 0 g/d (light consumption), <15 g/d, (moderate consumption), 15-29.9 g/ d (heavy consumption) and ≥30 g/d, (heavy alcohol consumption).
All volunteer data was then analyzed from April 16 to July 6, 2020.
The main endpoint was the number of cancers caused by alcohol (cancers of the head and neck, esophagus, colorectum, liver, larynx and breast in women…) and the endpoint secondary was based on newly diagnosed cancers (except thyroid cancer).
Results ? Among the 4,513,746 participants, the cancer incidence rate was 7.7 per 1000 people per year.
The participants who drank the most had a higher risk of cancer than the others. Those who increased their consumption a little (going from “abstinent” status to drinking “lightly”, <15 g/d) also saw their risks increase.
Finally, people with low alcohol consumption who stopped drinking had a lower risk of alcohol-related cancer than those who maintained their routine.
” The results of this study thus showed that increased alcohol consumption was associated with higher risks of alcohol-related cancers and all cancers, while prolonged cessation and reduced consumption were associated with lower risks of alcohol-related cancers and all cancers “, conclude the researchers.
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Alcohol: no more than 10 drinks per week
In fact, prevention – especially among the youngest – is essential: no alcohol intake is harmless.
Since 2017, it is recommended, regardless of gender, to drink no more than 10 glasses of alcohol per week. It is also advisable to grant oneself two days of abstinence per week to significantly reduce the harmful effects on health: cancers, cardiovascular and digestive diseases, diseases of the nervous system, psychic disorders…