Prostrate Cancer Links to Alcohol

By Julia Medew, The Sydney Morning Herald

March 14, 2009

Australia

Men who drink two or more alcoholic drinks a day are 20 per cent more likely to get prostate cancer, the first research to link the two has found.

The risk is likely to confuse Australian men who have previously been told that one to two drinks a day, particularly of red wine, can protect them from heart disease.

But researchers from the National Drug Research Institute said a review of 35 studies on alcohol and its link to prostate cancer showed the risk increased for men the more they drank.

"We found that at one drink a day the risk was not significant but at two standard drinks, middle-aged men had about a 20 per cent greater chance of developing prostate cancer. For four drinks a day, the chance was 25 per cent higher and for six standard drinks a day, the risk was about 35 per cent higher," said Associate Professor Tanya Chikritzhs, an author of the study.

Professor Chikritzhs said previous research into the link had either concluded there was no effect or that the outcomes were too mixed. She said men who are confused about balancing the risks and the stated benefits of alcohol should err on the side of caution.

"I would advise men to follow the newly advised National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines and stick to less than two standard drinks per day," she said.

"It's important to be reminded in the face of publicity about alcohol having a protective effect, that it can be harmful … Prostate cancer is one of many cancers linked to alcohol, including mouth, colorectal and breast cancer for women."

She said further independent research needed to carefully examine the risks of disease from different levels of alcohol consumption.

Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers. There are more than 18,000 cases a year in Australia.

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