NEW DELHI: Alcoholic drinks, especially beer and spirits, may raise the risk of pancreatic cancer, a new UN study has found.
The study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) revealed a “modest but significant” association between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer, regardless of sex or smoking status.
The study, published in PLOS Medicine, said that each additional 10 grams of alcohol consumed per day was associated with a three per cent increase in pancreatic cancer risk.
While for women consuming 15 to 30 grams of alcohol daily – about one to two drinks – the risk rose by 12 per cent compared to light drinkers, among men, those who drank 30 to 60 grams daily faced a 15 per cent increased risk.
Men who drank more than 60 grams daily saw a 36 per cent higher risk, the study said.
Pancreatic cancer is the twelfth most common cancer globally, but it accounts for five per cent of cancer-related deaths due to its high fatality rate.
“Alcohol consumption is a known carcinogen, but until now, the evidence linking it specifically to pancreatic cancer has been considered inconclusive,” said Pietro Ferrari, senior author of the study at the International Cancer Research Agency and Head of Nutrition and Metabolism Branch at the WHO IARC.
“Our findings provide new evidence that pancreatic cancer may be another cancer type associated with alcohol consumption, a connection that has been underestimated until now.”
The research pooled data from nearly 2.5 million people across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
Previous prospective studies have suggested a harmful role of alcohol in the development of pancreatic cancer, particularly at intake levels of more than 30 grams of ethanol per day (g/day), which is equivalent to about two standard alcoholic drinks per day.
“Alcohol is often consumed in combination with tobacco use, which has led to questions about whether smoking might confound the relationship,” adds Dr Ferrari. “However, our analysis showed that the association between alcohol and risk of pancreatic cancer was observed even among non-smokers, indicating that alcohol consumption itself is an independent risk factor for pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is a growing global concern. It has emerged as a significant public health challenge in recent years.
Pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality rates in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and Eastern Asia are four to five times those in other regions.
Despite advances in cancer treatment, little improvement in pancreatic cancer survival has been observed.
“Although there are some established risk factors, such as tobacco use, excess body fatness, chronic pancreatitis, and diabetes, the causes of pancreatic cancer remain poorly understood. This study adds important new insights into the role of alcohol consumption in pancreatic cancer onset,” says Dr Ferrari. “Further research is needed to better understand the role of lifetime alcohol consumption, for example during early adulthood, and the influence of specific consumption patterns, such as binge drinking."