Alcohol and cancer

Abstract

Excessive consumption of alcohol increases the risk of cancer in several organs and at present there is good evidence to link chronic alcoholism with tumors of the head and neck, the esophagus, and the liver. Less certain is the relation between chronic alcoholism and cancer of the pancreas or the prostate. Since exposure to ethanol alone does not lead to experimental tumors, there is reason to suspect that alcohol acts as a cocarcinogen or that a congener present in the final beverage is carcinogenic. Heavy smoking and malnutrition are both common in alcoholics and may contribute to the increased incidence of certain tumors.