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Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies.
BMJ. 2015 Aug 18; 351:h4238.BMJ

Abstract

OBJECTIVES

To quantify risk of overall cancer across all levels of alcohol consumption among women and men separately, with a focus on light to moderate drinking and never smokers; and assess the influence of drinking patterns on overall cancer risk.

DESIGN

Two prospective cohort studies.

SETTING

Health professionals in the United States.

PARTICIPANTS

88,084 women and 47,881 men participating in the Nurses' Health Study (from 1980) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (from 1986), followed until 2010.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Relative risks of cancer.

RESULTS

19,269 and 7571 (excluding non-advanced prostate cancers) incident cancers were documented among women and men, respectively, over 3,144,853 person years. Compared with non-drinkers, light to moderate drinkers had relative risks of total cancer of 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.98 to 1.06) and 1.04 (1.00 to 1.09; P(trend) = 0.12) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9 and 5-14.9 g/day among women, respectively. Corresponding values for men were 1.03 (0.96 to 1.11), 1.05 (0.97 to 1.12), and 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15; P(trend) = 0.31) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9, 5-14.9, and 15-29.9 g/day, respectively. Associations for light to moderate drinking and total cancer were similar among ever or never smokers, although alcohol consumption above moderate levels (in particular ≥ 30 g/day) was more strongly associated with risk of total cancer among ever smokers than never smokers. For a priori defined alcohol related cancers in men, risk was not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinkers who never smoked (P(trend) = 0.18). However, for women, even an alcohol consumption of 5-14.9 g/day was associated with increased risk of alcohol related cancer (relative risk 1.13 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.20)), driven by breast cancer. More frequent and heavy episodic drinking was not further associated with risk of total cancer after adjusting for total alcohol intake.

CONCLUSION

Light to moderate drinking is associated with minimally increased risk of overall cancer. For men who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers is not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinking (up to two drinks per day). However, for women who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers (mainly breast cancer) increases even within the range of up to one alcoholic drink a day.

Links

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Cao Y
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Willett WC
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Rimm EB
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Stampfer MJ
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Giovannucci EL
Department of Nutrition, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA egiovann@hsph.harvard.edu.

MeSH

AdultAgedAlcohol DrinkingAlcoholic BeveragesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIncidenceMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsProspective StudiesRisk FactorsUnited States

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Language

eng

PubMed ID

26286216

Clinical Trial Links

Wine Implementation for Surgical Recovery Enhancement

Citation

Cao, Yin, et al. "Light to Moderate Intake of Alcohol, Drinking Patterns, and Risk of Cancer: Results From Two Prospective US Cohort Studies." BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), vol. 351, 2015, pp. h4238.
Cao Y, Willett WC, Rimm EB, et al. Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies. BMJ. 2015;351:h4238.
Cao, Y., Willett, W. C., Rimm, E. B., Stampfer, M. J., & Giovannucci, E. L. (2015). Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), 351, h4238. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h4238
Cao Y, et al. Light to Moderate Intake of Alcohol, Drinking Patterns, and Risk of Cancer: Results From Two Prospective US Cohort Studies. BMJ. 2015 Aug 18;351:h4238. PubMed PMID: 26286216.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Light to moderate intake of alcohol, drinking patterns, and risk of cancer: results from two prospective US cohort studies. AU - Cao,Yin, AU - Willett,Walter C, AU - Rimm,Eric B, AU - Stampfer,Meir J, AU - Giovannucci,Edward L, Y1 - 2015/08/18/ PY - 2015/8/20/entrez PY - 2015/8/20/pubmed PY - 2015/10/31/medline SP - h4238 EP - h4238 JF - BMJ (Clinical research ed.) JO - BMJ VL - 351 N2 - OBJECTIVES: To quantify risk of overall cancer across all levels of alcohol consumption among women and men separately, with a focus on light to moderate drinking and never smokers; and assess the influence of drinking patterns on overall cancer risk. DESIGN: Two prospective cohort studies. SETTING: Health professionals in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: 88,084 women and 47,881 men participating in the Nurses' Health Study (from 1980) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (from 1986), followed until 2010. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Relative risks of cancer. RESULTS: 19,269 and 7571 (excluding non-advanced prostate cancers) incident cancers were documented among women and men, respectively, over 3,144,853 person years. Compared with non-drinkers, light to moderate drinkers had relative risks of total cancer of 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.98 to 1.06) and 1.04 (1.00 to 1.09; P(trend) = 0.12) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9 and 5-14.9 g/day among women, respectively. Corresponding values for men were 1.03 (0.96 to 1.11), 1.05 (0.97 to 1.12), and 1.06 (0.98 to 1.15; P(trend) = 0.31) for alcohol intake of 0.1-4.9, 5-14.9, and 15-29.9 g/day, respectively. Associations for light to moderate drinking and total cancer were similar among ever or never smokers, although alcohol consumption above moderate levels (in particular ≥ 30 g/day) was more strongly associated with risk of total cancer among ever smokers than never smokers. For a priori defined alcohol related cancers in men, risk was not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinkers who never smoked (P(trend) = 0.18). However, for women, even an alcohol consumption of 5-14.9 g/day was associated with increased risk of alcohol related cancer (relative risk 1.13 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.20)), driven by breast cancer. More frequent and heavy episodic drinking was not further associated with risk of total cancer after adjusting for total alcohol intake. CONCLUSION: Light to moderate drinking is associated with minimally increased risk of overall cancer. For men who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers is not appreciably increased for light and moderate drinking (up to two drinks per day). However, for women who have never smoked, risk of alcohol related cancers (mainly breast cancer) increases even within the range of up to one alcoholic drink a day. SN - 1756-1833 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/26286216/Light_to_moderate_intake_of_alcohol_drinking_patterns_and_risk_of_cancer:_results_from_two_prospective_US_cohort_studies_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -