Alcohol and cancer

Research shows that alcohol causes different types of cancer in different ways.

• Our bodies break down alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is a toxic chemical. Acetaldehyde can damage DNA (the genetic material that makes up genes) and stop our cells from repairing the damage.
• The breakdown of alcohol in our bodies can also make harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species. These molecules can damage DNA and proteins.
• Alcohol weakens the body’s ability to break down and absorb a variety of nutrients that may protect you against cancer. These include vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E.
• Alcohol increases levels of the hormone oestrogen. Higher levels of oestrogen increase the risk of breast cancer.
• Alcohol is high in calories and can cause weight gain. Being overweight or obese is known to increase the risk of many types of cancer.

No, there is no safe amount to drink alcohol. The risk of cancer is lower the less alcohol you drink.

You can limit your risk by drinking no more than 1 standard drink a day if you are a woman and 2 standard drinks per day if you are a man.

A standard drink is:

• ½ pint of beer, cider or stout.
• 1 measure of spirits                                                    
• A small glass of wine.

It is also important to give your body a break: have at least 2 alcohol-free days every week.

No. It is the alcohol itself that does the damage. All types of alcohol increase the risk of cancer, including red wine.

Women have lower body weights, less body water and more body fat than men, so it takes less alcohol for women to feel the effects and alcohol stays in a woman’s body for longer.

Yes. If you drink and smoke, your risk of cancer is much higher.

Alcohol makes it easier for other harmful chemicals, such as those found in tobacco smoke, to enter the cells lining the mouth, throat, larynx (voicebox) and oesophagus (foodpipe). This is why the combination of smoking and drinking is much more likely to cause cancers in the mouth, throat, larynx and oesophagus than either smoking or drinking alone.

 

Alcohol is a major risk factor for certain head and neck cancers, particularly mouth cancer, throat cancer and cancer of the larynx (voicebox).

People who have 4 or more standard drinks a day have 5 times the risk of these cancers than people who have never drank. 

If you drink and smoke together, your risk of getting these cancers is far higher than either drinking or smoking alone. Alcohol and tobacco together are estimated to account for about 75% of oral cancer cases in Europe.

Read more about mouth, head and neck cancer.

Alcohol is a major risk factor for a particular type of oesophageal (food pipe) cancer called oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

If you drink and smoke together, your risk of oesophageal cancer is far higher than either drinking or smoking alone.

Read more about oesophageal cancer.

More than 100 studies have found that drinking alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer in women.

A recent review of evidence showed that even one standard drink a day could increase the risk of breast cancer in women by 5 per cent. The risk increases the more you drink.

Read more about breast cancer.

Alcohol is one of the main risk factors for liver cancer. Heavy drinking can lead to cirrhosis, which is liver scarring from continuous, long-term liver damage. Cirrhosis increases the risk of liver cancer.

Alcohol also further increases the risk of liver cancer in people with hepatitis B or hepatitis C infections (who are already at higher risk).

Read more about liver cancer.

Even fairly small amounts of alcohol greatly increase your risk of bowel cancer. A recent large study found that for every 1 standard drink a person drinks each day, their risk of bowel cancer goes up by about 10 per cent.

Read more about bowel cancer.