Alcohol and cancer
You can reduce your chance of getting cancer if you avoid alcohol or only drink a little. Even a small amount of alcohol can increase your risk of cancer.
Alcohol is a known cause of seven types of cancer.
You can reduce your chance of getting cancer if you avoid alcohol or only drink a little. Even a small amount of alcohol can increase your risk of cancer. It’s not just people who have a ‘drinking problem’ who are affected.
The more you drink, the higher your risk.
Alcohol is a known cause of cancers of the mouth, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx), oesophagus (foodpipe), breast, liver, bowel. Some research suggests there may also be a link between heavy drinking and risk of pancreatic cancer.
How does alcohol cause cancer?
If you drink and smoke, your risk of cancer is even 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.
People who drink and smoke multiply the damage they receive and have a much greater risk of cancer.
There is no 'safe' level of alcohol drinking, but the risk of cancer is lower the less alcohol you drink.
You can limit your risk by drinking no more than one standard drink a day if you are a woman and two standard drinks per day if you are a man.
A standard drink is:
- ½ pint of beer, lager, cider or stout.
- 1 measure of spirits .
- A small glass of wine.
It is also important to give your body a break and have at least 2 alcohol-free days every week.
All types of alcohol increase the risk of cancer, including red wine. It is the alcohol itself that does the damage. It does not matter if it is in the form of beer, wine or spirits.
Since the mid-1990s, Irish teenage girls have been drinking as much and sometimes more than their male friends. And six out of 10 Irish women are now regularly drinking too much. This culture is very harmful to a woman’s health.
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.
The benefits of cutting down
As well as reducing your risk of cancer, there are many other benefits to cutting down.
You will:
- Be better able to manage your weight.
- Have healthier skin – alcohol dehydrates the skin.
- Sleep better.
- Have more energy.
- Have more money.
- Have improved mental health.
- Have a lower risk of stroke and heart disease
Tips for sensible drinking:
- When ordering drinks, opt for the smallest serving size. All licensed premises now have to offer small glasses of wine and single measures of spirits.
- Switch to shandies, non-alcoholic beers or soft drinks as the night goes on.
- Avoid double measures of spirits, which are often encouraged as 'better value'.
- Don't drink alcohol when you are thirsty because you are likely to drink more.
- Have a glass of water or a non-alcoholic soft drink to quench your thirst before having an alcoholic drink.
- Alternate between alcoholic and soft drinks.
- Sip your drink slowly to pace yourself and make it last longer.
- Dilute alcoholic drinks or opt for low calorie/low alcohol alternatives. For example, opt for a white wine spritzer with soda water rather than a full glass of wine.
- Aim to keep at least a few nights each week alcohol free.
- Avoid drinking on an empty stomach. The alcohol will be absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly.
- Make sure you drink water before and after you drink alcohol to rehydrate yourself.
- Know how much you’re drinking - Most people drink more than they think. Count your standard drinks for a week to find out.
- Measure your drinks at home - It’s easy to pour a double or a treble measure of spirits without realising, and a big wine glass can hold 2 or 3 standard drinks.
- Try to quit smoking - If you drink and smoke, your risk of cancer is even higher.
How do I know if drinking could be damaging my health?
Information from Alcohol Action Ireland will help you to find out whether your drinking could be harmful.
If you regularly drink heavily, think you might be dependent on alcohol or are concerned about your drinking, you might like to seek support. Your GP will be able to guide you through the help available to find something that suits you.
Track your drinking
Keeping an eye on your drinking is important if you want to reduce the risk to your health. Knowing how much you drink will allow you to see if you are within the recommended weekly limit.
Keep track of how much you drink over the course of a week. Do what works for you, such as keeping a card in your wallet, or marking a kitchen calendar. There are plenty of alcohol tracker apps available.
The website https://www2.hse.ie/wellbeing/alcohol/drinks-calculator/ also has a drinks calculator to help you find out if you should cut down on or seek help for your drinking. (Note: The Irish Cancer Society is not responsible for the contents of external websites.)
Cancers for which alcohol is a risk factor
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 three or four standard drinks a day have two to three times the risk of these cancers than people who have never drank. And 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 three-quarters of oral cancer cases in Europe.
Alcohol is a major risk factor for a particular type of oesophageal 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.
More than 100 studies have looked at the link between alcohol and breast cancer in women. These studies have time and again found drinking alcohol increases your breast cancer risk.
Even small amounts of alcohol can increase the risk of breast cancer. A recent review of evidence showed that even one standard drink a daycould increase the risk of breast cancer by 5 per cent (see note 3 below). And the risk increases the more a woman drinks.
Alcohol is one of the main risk factors for liver cancer. Heavy drinking can lead to cirrhosis, which is scarring of the liver as a result of 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 C infections (who are already at higher risk).
An analysis of 57 studies that examined the association link between alcohol and bowel cancer showed that people who regularly drank three or four drinks a day had 1.5 times the risk of bowel cancer than people who never drank.
Even fairly small amounts can have an effect. One very large study found that for every 2 units a person drinks each day (less than a large glass of wine) their risk of bowel cancer goes up by 9 per cent.
Further supports
The HSE Drugs & Alcohol Helpline provides support, information, guidance and referral to anyone with a question or concern related to drug and alcohol use. Freephone 1800 459 459 Email helpline@hse.ie
Further support services in your area: https://www2.hse.ie/services/alcohol-support-and-services/
