Alcohol drinks increase cancer risk dramatically
Updated: 2008-05-08 10:18
CANBERRA -- A new report by the Cancer Institute of New South Wales (NSW) reveals that four standard alcoholic drinks per day increases a man's risk of developing bowel cancer by 64 percent.
For women, just two standard drinks per day increases their risk of developing breast cancer by up to 22 percent. and for both men and women, two standard drinks a day increases the risk of developing mouth cancer by 75 percent.
NSW Assistant Health Minister Verity Firth, who will release the report on Thursday, said the alarming links to cancer have been generally ignored in community debate over alcohol consumption.
"In fact, alcohol consumption is a significant risk factor for a number of cancers, including those of the breast, bowell, throat and mouth," Firth said in a statement on Thursday.
The report, entitled Alcohol As A Cause Of Cancer, also found 12 percent of all breast cancer cases in NSW could be directly linked to excessive consumption of alcohol.
Firth said the World Health Organization now listed alcohol as a top-rated Group 1 carcinogen.
The 2006 NSW Population Health Survey found 70 percent of NSW adults drank alcohol, with 17.6 percent drinking at risky or high- risk levels.
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