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
