Prostate cancer risk soars by a quarter if men drink just one or two beers

Having just one or two beers can increase your prostate cancer risk by nearly a quarter, according to new research. Scientists are working on understanding the link between alcohol and cancer say it is a known risk factor for breast cancer and at least seven types of digestive system cancers.

It is also suggested that any type of alcohol may increase the risk of cancers of the skin, pancreas and prostate. Even at low-volume drinking, classed as up to two drinks per day, men had a 23 per cent greater risk of prostate cancer compared to people who have never drunk.

The new collaborative study was done by researchers at the Centre for Addictions Research of BC at the University of Victoria and Australia's National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University, and provides new evidence of a significant relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of prostate cancer. The article appeared in BMC Cancer, a peer-reviewed online journal. Part of the problem with most previous studies comes from what scientists call "abstainer bias," where former drinkers were lumped together with people who have never touched a drop.

This practice can disguise the association between alcohol intake and health problems like prostate cancer by making drinkers "look good" in comparison with a group containing unhealthy former drinkers. The research team identified all 340 previously published studies on alcohol and prostate cancer and found 27 that attempted to measure the risk at different levels of consumption. Controlling for abstainer bias in their analysis of all those studies, they found a statistically significant relationship between amount of alcohol consumed and risk of prostate cancer among current drinkers, meaning the more you drink, the greater your risk of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in Canada, Australia and Britain, and is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in men worldwide. CARBC director and co-author Dr Tim Stockwell said: ""This new study contributes to the strengthening evidence that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for prostate cancer. "Alcohol consumption will need to be factored in to future estimates of the global burden of disease." Report co-author Dr Tanya Chikritzhs added: "These findings highlight the need for better methods in research on alcohol and health. "Past and future studies that demonstrate protection from disease due to low-level drinking should be treated with caution."