Heavy Drinking Linked to Prostate Cancer

Ruby de Luna
07/13/2009

There is another case for drinking alcohol in moderation. Scientists at the Seattle Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found that men who are heavy drinkers develop a higher risk of prostate cancer.

The study was part of a clinical trial to see whether the drug Finasteride would prevent prostate cancer. Finasteride is a drug to slow the growth of the cancer. One of the things to come out of the research was that alcohol, and drinking lots of it, increased the risk of prostate cancer.

Kristal: "The message isn't 'don't drink,' but don't drink as much."

That's Alan Kristal, an epidemiologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He specializes in diet and metabolism and the role they play in cancer, especially prostate cancer. Kristal was one of six scientists who conducted the nationwide study. He defines heavy drinking as consuming four or more drinks a day most days of the week.

Kristal: "We know that heavy drinking is bad for, for example, liver cancer, and other types of liver disease, we know it's bad for gastrointestinal diseases; we know for women heavy is associated with breast cancer, now we can say for men that heavy drinking is associated with prostate cancer."

The study followed more than 18,000 men in their mid–50s and older. They were healthy, with no sign of prostate cancer. Over seven years, researchers measured their behavior, including diet and alcohol consumption. And they followed to see whether new cancers had occurred. At the end of seven years, all the men got a prostate biopsy. The data showed a link between heavy drinking and the increased risk for high grade prostate cancer — the aggressive, fast–growing type. Researchers also found that heavy drinking made the drug Finasteride ineffective in preventing prostate cancer. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Findings appear in the journal, Cancer.

Ruby de Luna, KUOW News.

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