Over 2,000 Australians dying from alcohol-caused cancers every year

August 24, 2009

Over 1,200 men and nearly 900 women died in Australia from known alcohol-related cancers in 2006, according to new statistics to be announced today.

Associate Professor Tanya Chikritzhs, an epidemiologist who leads the Alcohol Policy Research team at the National Drug Research Institute of Curtin University of Technology, said the number of Australians with cancer attributed to alcohol is expected to rise as researchers gain an understanding of which cancers can be caused by alcohol consumption.

“A substantial number of Australians die every year from alcohol-caused cancers and the evidence on the benefits of drinking alcohol is increasingly shaky,” said Assoc Professor Chikritzhs.

Assoc Professor Chikritzhs, who has over ten years experience in alcohol research, will discuss her findings at a free public lecture in Perth today as part of the annual Cancer Council Update series.

While the link between alcohol and anti-social behaviour has long been established, its link to cancer is a newer risk increasingly being highlighted by researchers like Assoc Professor Chikritzhs.

“What we now know is that the ‘protective effects’ of alcohol have been largely over-estimated and may actually be negligible.”

The cancers most commonly linked to alcohol consumption include cancers of the upper respiratory tract, liver and breast cancer. Colon, rectal and prostate cancers are the latest types of cancer to be added to the list.

“For example, we’ve recently found that men who drink more than two and a half standard drinks a day have a 20 per cent increased risk of developing prostate cancer and women who are very heavy daily drinkers may have up to 25 times the risk of developing rectal cancer than someone who doesn’t drink.”

Assoc Professor Chikritzhs is concerned about the de-regulation of liquor licensing in recent years which has seen a significant increase in the number of licensed venues in some states.
                                   
“The more you increase the availability of alcohol in a population the more you increase the likelihood and level of consumption and the more you increase the harm caused by alcohol,” said Assoc Professor Chikritzhs.

She said the new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines on alcohol, which halved the recommended number of drinks per day for men, are a step in the right direction.

The new guidelines recommend no more than two standard drinks a day for men and women.

“Current guidelines are a good start for most people wanting to reduce their level of risk of contracting cancer or some other chronic disease,” said Assoc Professor Chikritzhs.
While death from heart disease is declining quite steadily in Australia, there is no similar decline in cancer deaths.