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Cancer is a ferocious force. It often invades other areas of the body before it’s detected, hampering efforts to stop it. However, you can add fuel to the fire.
Mounting evidence suggests lifestyle decisions can increase your risk of cancer.
A study published in the British Journal of Cancer illustrates the extent to which this might be the case.
The study investigated the impact the duration and intensity of drinking alcohol has on the risk of head and neck cancer.
Head and neck cancer is a relatively uncommon type of cancer.
There are more than 30 areas within the head and neck where cancer can develop, including the:
- Mouth and lips
- Voice box (larynx)
- Throat (pharynx)
- Salivary glands
- Nose and sinuses
- Area at the back of the nose and mouth (nasopharynx).
“Alcohol is a well-established risk factor for head and neck cancer (HNC),” wrote the study researchers.
“This study aims to explore the effect of alcohol intensity and duration, as joint continuous exposures, on HNC risk.”
Data from 26 case-control studies in the INHANCE Consortium were used, including never and current drinkers who drunk less than or equal to 10 drinks/day for up to 54 years (24,234 controls, 4,085 oral cavity, 3,359 oropharyngeal, 983 hypopharyngeal and 3340 laryngeal cancers).
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The dose-response relationship between the risk and the joint exposure to drinking intensity and duration was investigated, adjusting for potential confounders, including tobacco smoking.
What did the researchers find out?
For all areas, cancer risk “steeply” increased with increasing drinks per day day, with no appreciable threshold effect at lower intensities, they observed.
For each intensity level, the risk of oral cavity, hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancers did not vary according to years of drinking, suggesting no effect of duration.
For oropharyngeal cancer, the risk increased with durations up to 28 years, flattening thereafter.
The risk peaked at the higher levels of intensity and duration for all areas of the cancer.
“Present results further encourage the reduction of alcohol intensity to mitigate HNC risk,” the researchers concluded.
Are some alcoholic drinks worse than others?
All types of alcoholic drink can cause cancer.
Cancer Research UK explains: “Alcohol gets broken down into a harmful chemical and can also affect our body’s chemical signals, making cancer more likely to develop.”
It’s important to note that drinking alcohol doesn’t mean that you’ll definitely get cancer.
“Your exact risk will depend on lots of factors, including things you can’t change such as your age and genetics,” explains Cancer Research UK.
But drinking less alcohol has lots of other benefits too.
You can reduce your risk of accidents, high blood pressure and liver disease by cutting back, for example.
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