Two drinks a day raises pancreatic cancer risk

Published on Tuesday 3 March 2009 21:11

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.