Heavy alcohol consumption appears to moderately increase the risk of cancer in the colon and rectum, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Although previous studies have linked alcohol use with colon cancer, findings regarding personal factors, types of beverage, and anatomic sites in the colon have been inconsistent, Dr. Eunyoung Cho at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues note.
The cancer risk was increased for those who regularly drank at least 30 grams of alcohol per day, the equivalent of two to three drinks of 80-proof liquor. For example, drinking 30 to 45 grams raised the risk by 21 percent, while drinking more than 45 grams increased the risk by 51 percent.
The results were similar for women and men, and did not differ between various locations in the colon. The risk also did not differ for beer, wine or liquor, leading Cho’s group to believe that it was the alcohol itself and not other components that was responsible for the increased risk.
In the general population, reducing alcohol use to less than 30 grams per day could prevent 5 percent of colon cancer cases in men and 0.9 percent of cases in women.