Can abstaining from alcohol reduce the risk of liver cancer? High score study

Although there has been extensive research showing an association between alcohol consumption and cancer, it is not well understood

This is a population-based cohort study of participants aged ≥40 in the Korea National Health Insurance Service who underwent health screening in 2009 and 2011 and recorded data on alcohol consumption status, and analyzed

Alcohol consumption levels (subjects self-reported through a health screening questionnaire) were divided into no alcohol (0 g/day), mild alcohol consumption (<15 g/day), moderate alcohol consumption (15-29.

The primary endpoint was newly diagnosed alcohol-related cancers (including head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, laryngeal cancer, and female breast cancer), and the secondary endpoint was all newly diagnosed cancers (except thyroid cancer).

A total of 4513746 participants with an average (SD) age of 53.

Table 1 Correlation between changes in alcohol consumption levels and cancer risk

1.

The increased drinking group had a higher
risk of alcohol-related cancers and all cancers compared to the maintenance drinking group.

The increased incidence of alcohol-related cancers was associated with the amount of alcohol consumed: from non-alcohol consumption to mild (aHR, 1.
03; 95% CI, 1.
00-1.
06), moderate (aHR, 1.
10; 95% CI, 1.
02-1.
18), or heavy drinking levels (aHR, 1.
34; 95% CI, 1.
23-1.
45) had a higher risk of alcohol-related cancer than non-drinkers
.

Similarly, the incidence of alcohol-related cancers from mild to moderate (aHR, 1.
10; 95% CI, 1.
05–1.
15) or severe (aHR, 1.
17; 95% CI, 1.
09–1.
25) was higher
than those who maintained a mild drinking level.

The increase in the incidence of all cancers was also associated with the amount of alcohol consumed: the increased risk of developing all cancers was associated not only with the transition from non-drinking to heavy drinking levels (aHR, 1.
12; 95% CI, 1.
07-1.
18), but also with the transition to severe alcohol consumption levels (aHR, 1.
09; 95% CI, 1.
04-1.
13).

By analyzing specific cancer sites, the researchers found that the increased alcohol group (from the non-drinking group) had a higher
incidence of stomach cancer, liver cancer, gallbladder cancer, lung cancer, multiple myeloma and leukemia.

2.
Abstinence/alcohol consumption reduction in relation to alcohol-related cancers and the risk of all cancers

For mild drinkers, the risk of alcohol-related cancers in abstainers was lower than in those who maintained drinking levels (aHR, 0.
96; 95% CI, 0.
92 to 0.
99).


All cancer rates were higher in moderate drinkers (aHR, 1.
07; 95% CI, 1.
03–1.
12) or heavy drinkers (aHR, 1.
07; 95% CI, 1.
02–1.
12) than those who maintained drinking, but this risk disappeared when abstinence continued
.

Reduce heavy drinking levels to moderate compared with maintaining heavy drinking [aHR, 0.
91 (95% CI, 0.
86-0.
97); All cancers: aHR, 0.
96 (95% CI, 0.
92-0.
99)] or mild [alcohol-related cancers: aHR, 0.
92 (95% CI, 0.
86-0.
98); All cancers: aHR, 0.
92 (95% CI, 0.
89-0.
96)] was associated with a reduced risk of
cancer.

The site of cancer was analyzed, and subjects who changed from heavy to moderate alcohol consumption had lower incidences of breast, kidney, and gallbladder cancers than subjects who
maintained heavy drinking levels.

This cohort study showed that increased drinkers had a higher risk of alcohol-related and all cancers compared to those who maintained drinking levels, while those who reduced their drinkers had a lower
risk.

Although an increased risk of cancer was temporarily observed after abstinence from alcohol, no increase in risk was observed when abstinence continued
.

The findings suggest that to prevent cancer, alcohol should be abstained and reduced
.

References: Yoo JE, Han K, Shin DW, et al.
Association Between Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk[J].
JAMA Netw Open.
2022 Aug 1; 5(8):e2228544.
doi: 10.
1001/jamanetworkopen.
2022.
28544.