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Two drinks a day raises pancreatic cancer risk

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Published Date: 04 March 2009
By John von Radowitz
JUST two alcoholic drinks a day can increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, a study has shown.
Consuming 30g or more of alcohol a day raises the likelihood of developing the disease by 22 per cent, scientists found.

That is the equivalent of roughly two drinks, according to the US researchers. They defined "a drink" as 12 fluid ounces of
beer, four fluid ounces of wine or 1.5 fluid ounces of spirits.

The investigation was one of the largest ever to examine dietary factors influencing pancreatic cancer.

Scientists analysed data from 14 studies looking at the food and drink consumption of more than 860,000 men and women.

Of these, 2,187 were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Dr Jeanine Genkinger, from Georgetown University in Washington DC, said: "Our findings support multiple nutrition recommendations that men should limit intake to no more than two alcoholic beverages a day and women to one."

Previous studies had been unable to confirm an association between alcohol consumption and pancreatic cancer risk.

The link was suspected because drinking is associated with pancreatitis, inflammation of the pancreas and diabetes. Both conditions are known risk factors for pancreatic cancer.





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1

an interested party,

04/03/2009 07:35:09
"raises the likelihood of developing the disease by 22 per cent"

22% of what ?

worded like its 22% of the normal risk

which is ?

even if the normal risk is 10% a 22% raise is then up to 12.2% (ish)
2

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 04/03/2009 08:26:53
We are told that the maximum weekly intake of alcohol is 21 units for men and 14 units for women, though I upon what research such figures are based appears obscure.

A unit of alcohol is 10ml.

So, what do we find when we read an article concerned with possible health risks due to alcohol consumption?

First, the quantity of alcohol is expressed as "alcoholic drinks", then in grams ("30g of alcohol ...") then it is expressed in "drinks", then it is expressed in "fluid ounces" of various beverages and finally it is expressed in "alcoholic beverages". In none of the above is there any explanation of how the quantities stated are related to units of alcohol.

A more shambolic way of providing information would be difficult to imagine.

Finally, what is the risk involved? Of 860,000 individuals, we are told that "2,187 were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer." But over what time period? Is that a lifetime diagnosis? or over one year? or during the unspecified duration of the study? And does that number include drinkers and non-drinkers? We are not told and so the information is effectively meaningless.

3

Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head,

Edinburgh 04/03/2009 10:11:59
#1:

Precisely. How are you supposed to make a rational decision unless you know the baseline risk?

Slioch:

For once I agree with you. I get sick and tired of sensationalist rubbish being spouted which is based on false premises. I am particularly fed up with being constantly bombarded with rubbish about drinking and smoking.
4

Melly,

Dunblane 04/03/2009 10:28:43
This doesn`t tell us anything. What is the rate for pancreatic cancer for those who never drink ? smoking, diet, body weight, exercise and inherited genes are other reasons. If we don`t know the lifestyles of these people this story is meaningless.
5

DaveA,

Forfarshire 04/03/2009 10:34:12
Drinking has become the new smoking and the data is being manipulated accordingly. Now for the good news, a recent survey found that.

"One found that men drinking between 21 and 30 units of alcohol a week had the lowest mortality rate in Britain. Another concluded that a man would have to drink 63 units a week, or a bottle of wine a day, to face the same risk of death as a teetotaller."

So 3-4 glasses of wine or 2 pints of beer a day increases your life span. Also if you drink red wine this was the conclusions from a study of 84,000 people:

"Conclusion: Moderate red wine consumption was inversely associated with lung cancer risk after adjusting for confounders. Our results should not be extrapolated to heavy alcohol consumption. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(10):2692–9"

Also in the comments section on MedPageToday they caution: "Caution that the modest pancreatic cancer risk seen in the meta-analysis needs to be taken in the context of both increased and decreased risks of other cancers and diseases linked to alcohol consumption in prior studies."

The last URL is a summary of the study.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article2697975.ece

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/17/10/2692

http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/OtherCancers/13098
6

DaveA,

Forfarshire 04/03/2009 10:38:55
Melly I can answer that question, these figures are for the USA which has a population of 300,000,000. 1/10,000.

"Incidence (annual) of Pancreatic cancer: 30,300 annual cases (SEER 2002 estimate)"

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/p/pancreatic_cancer/stats.htm
7

Slioch,

Scottish Highlands 04/03/2009 11:17:25
#3 Alternative (High-Octane) Fuel Head claimed, "For once I agree with you. I get sick and tired of sensationalist rubbish being spouted which is based on false premises."

I don't think you do agree with me, actually. There is nothing "sensational" in the information provided in the above article. Indeed, it is all rather dull. Moreover, you have no evidence that it is based on false premises.

The problem is that it is poorly presented, using a confusing mix of units (or lack of them) that make it very difficult for someone to know what the information is or to make any decision based upon it.

The problem is that journalists are generally innumerate and do not have a scientific training, but then that is also the case for much of the population, not least contributors to these columns.

For what it is worth (making some assumptions about the data), it appears that consuming 3.75 units (30g) of alcohol per day (ie. 26.25 units per week), causes a lifetime increased risk of pancreatic cancer by 22%, above a background rate of about 0.25%. Ie. that level of drinking increases your risk by about 0.056%, in other words, if 1,786 people so indulge, just one will contract pancreatic cancer who would not otherwise do so.

Which doesn't appear to be very significant, particularly when DaveA's links (thanks) point out that this "needs to be taken in the context of both increased and decreased risks of other cancers and diseases linked to alcohol consumption in prior studies."


 

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