(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Certain genetic changes are placing some people who drink alcohol at higher risk for cancer.

That's the take home message from French researchers who reviewed the medical literature on alcohol consumption, genetic polymorphisms, and cancer. Results showed many of the studies were significantly flawed, either because they failed to take other factors that could have influenced the development of cancer into account, they only focused on one genetic change, or they were lacking in study design.

Despite these limitations, however, results of the meta-analysis clearly linked two genetic polymorphisms to an increased risk for head, neck, and esophageal cancers in people who drank alcohol. Both ADH1B and ALDH2, which are involved in the way alcohol is metabolized, were found more often in drinkers diagnosed with cancer.

Now the authors believe more study should be conducted to look more closely at other polymorphisms and how they might also be linked to the disease. "We have highlighted the need for large multicentre studies and for approaches to the study of multiple polymorphisms," study author Dr. Nathalie Druesne-Pecollo, from the French National Institute of Agronomical Research, was quoted as saying.

Worldwide health statistics suggest alcohol consumption contributed to more than 389,000 cancers, and nearly 233,000 cancer deaths, in 2002 alone.

SOURCE: Lancet Oncology, published online January 29, 2009