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Heavy Drinking Linked to Prostate Cancer
Reported July 15, 2009
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Although current research regarding the
relationship between alcohol consumption and prostate cancer is still
inconclusive, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco,
led by Zhihong Gong Ph.D., found that men who reported regular heavy
drinking -- more than four drinks a day on more than five days per week --
were twice as likely to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer.
The research team used data from more than 10,000 men participating in the
Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT). They examined total quantity of
alcohol, type of alcoholic beverage, and drinking pattern with risks of
total, low- and high-grade prostate cancer. Moderate to light drinking was
not associated with risk.
Researchers also compared drinking patterns with treatment outcome among men
enrolled in a placebo-controlled trial of the drug finasteride. They found
finasteride's ability to lower prostate cancer risk was blocked in men who
were heavy drinkers. They conclude heavy, daily drinking increases the risk
of high-grade prostate cancer and that heavy drinking rendered the drug
finasteride ineffective for reducing prostate cancer risk.
SOURCE: Cancer, July 13, 2009 |
