Alcohol Linked to Cancer in 10 Percent of Western European Men

Many cases of cancer in Europe could be avoided by limiting alcohol consumption, according to a study that found almost 10 percent of all cancers in men in Western Europe are caused by excess drinking. The study also found that 3 percent of cancers in women are caused by too much alcohol.

Reuters reports that the study looked at data from France, Italy, Spain, Britain, The Netherlands, Greece, Germany and Denmark. They found that in one year, 50,400 out of 79,100 cases of certain kinds of cancers, including bowel and throat cancers, were caused by drinking more than the recommended limits of two drinks per day for men and one for women.

The study, reported in the British Medical Journal, calculated that alcohol drinking by women caused about 21,500 cases of cancer of the upper digestive tract, liver, colorectum and breast. More than 80 percent of those cases were due to women having more than one standard drink a day—one 125 milliliter glass of wine or a half pint of beer.