Three drinks a day increases cancer risk, study finds

 
Costly: Three alcoholic drinks per day can cause cancer, the study found (Picture: AP)
AP
Robin de Peyer25 March 2015

Three alcoholic drinks a day can cause cancer of the liver, research has found.

A study by the World Cancer Research Fund also showed "strong evidence" that being overweight, and eating foods contaminated by aflatoxins - which are produced by certain fungi - also cause the disease.

Drinking a lot of of coffee was found to "probably" protect against liver cancer, as does physical activity and eating fish, according to the analysis.

The research analysed 34 studies involving 8.2 million people - more than 24,500 of whom had liver cancer.

Aflatoxins are produced by inappropriate storage of food and are generally an issue related to foods from warmer regions of the world. Foods that may be affected include cereals, spices, peanuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts, chillies, black pepper, dried fruit and figs.

The study said there was a "significant effect" on cancer statistics among those people who consumed more than 45 grams a day in alcohol - the equivalent to around three drinks.

The report, described as the most comprehensive review to date of global research into the relationship between diet, weight, physical activity and liver cancer, said women should try to limit their alcohol intake to one drink per day and men to two drinks a day.

Other recommendations included being as lean as possible without becoming underweight and carrying out physical activity for at least 30 minutes every day.

Liver cancer is one of the most deadly cancers with just a 12 per cent survival rate after five years.

Around 4,700 people are diagnosed every year in the UK but nearly a quarter of cases diagnosed in the UK could be prevented if people kept a healthy weight and did not drink, the charity said.

Director of World Cancer Research Fund UK, Amanda McLean, said: "Around three or more drinks per day can be enough to cause liver cancer.

"Until now we were uncertain about the amount of alcohol likely to lead to liver cancer. But the research reviewed in this report is strong enough, for the first time, to be more specific about this."

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