HHS HealthBeat (July 1, 2010)

Pancreatic cancer and lots of drinking

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Maurice Scott with HHS HealthBeat.

A study indicates heavy alcohol use can raise the risk of pancreatic cancer. Researchers looked at data on 532 men with pancreatic cancer and more than 1,700 without the disease.

At UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Samir Gupta says men who drank more had a higher risk – up to 6 times for those who had the most alcohol, compared with men who had one drink a month or less. And binge drinkers had a 3.5 times higher risk than non-binge drinkers.

Dr. Gupta says the study suggests a possible way to head off the disease:

"Our findings may be considered an additional health reason why people should avoid heavy alcohol consumption." (6 seconds)

The study in the journal Cancer Causes and Control was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Maurice Scott.

Last revised: November 21, 2011