A drink a day leads to cancer in over 45-year-olds

Drinking one alcoholic beverage per day has been found to drastically increase the risk of liver cancer in people over 45-years-old, according to new research.

The Cancer Council NSW has found the relative risk of developing one of seven alcohol-related cancers rises 10 per cent for every seven standard drinks consumed per week by people over 45.

Drinking one alcoholic beverage per day has been found to increase the risk of liver cancer by 48 per cent in people over 45, according to new research.

A recent study conducted by Cancer Council NSW has found the relative risk of developing one of seven alcohol-related cancers rises 10 per cent for every seven standard drinks consumed per week by people over 45. This risk increases to 41 per cent in heavy drinkers who consume more than 28 drinks per week.

The study, published on Monday in the British Journal of Cancer, is the largest ever investigation of alcohol consumption and cancer risk in Australia.

A survey of more than 226,000 participants found evidence that alcohol consumption was linked to increased risk of seven types of cancer in Australia: liver, oesophagus, mouth, pharynx, larynx, bowel and breast.

Liver cancer was found to be most strongly associated with alcohol consumption, with the relative risk rising by 48 per cent when 7-14 drinks were consumed per week and by 202 per cent when more than 28 drinks per week were consumed.

For every 100 people exceeding 14 drinks per week, about five will develop cancer due to their alcohol consumption by age 85 years — most commonly breast cancer for women and bowel cancer for men.

Marianne Weber, senior research fellow at Cancer Council NSW, said she hoped the findings encouraged Australians to moderate their alcohol consumption.

“While there is no healthy amount of alcohol, current guidelines suggest that Australians limit their alcohol intake to a maximum of 14 drinks per week,” Ms Weber said.

“However, recent data has shown that one in six of us are exceeding this target, and of these almost 40 per cent fall into the heavy drinker category, consuming more than 28 drinks a week. These people have a 41 per cent higher relative risk of developing one of the seven alcohol-related cancers when compared with light drinkers.”

Guidelines are set to be further reduced to a maximum of 10 drinks per week later this year.

“If we don’t reverse this trend we could see a significant rise in cancers caused by alcohol, which is already attributed to around 3500 new cancer cases each year in Australia,” she said.