Postmenopausal women consuming two or more alcoholic beverages a day may double their risk of endometrial cancer, according to a new study released Friday.
The study was led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC). It will appear in the International Journal of Cancer.
"This is the first prospective study to report a significant association between alcohol and endometrial cancer," said Veronica Wendy Setiawan, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
"Previous studies have shown that alcohol consumption has been associated with higher levels of estrogens in postmenopausal women, which could be the mechanism by which daily alcohol intake increases one's risk of endometrial cancer."
According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, endometrial cancer, which attacks the lining of the uterus, is the most common cancer of the female reproductive system. It accounts for approximately 6 percent of all cancers in women.
"It's important for women, especially postmenopausal women, to know and understand the consequences of high alcohol consumption. It does not affect just the liver, but alcohol has been associated with breast cancer and now endometrial cancer," Setiawan added.
Researchers drew upon data from the Multiethnic Cohort Study, an epidemiological study of more than 215,000 people from Los Angeles and Hawaii created in 1993 by Dr. Brian Henderson, dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and Dr. Laurence Kolonel of the University of Hawaii.
The study followed 41,574 postmenopausal African-American, Japanese-American, Latina, Native-Hawaiian and White women in Los Angeles and Hawaii for an average of eight years.
The study also found that the association of alcohol intake and endometrial cancer is stronger among lean women than among overweight or obese postmenopausal women.
This discovery is important as it suggests that changes to certain lifestyle choices may potentially help alter risk of the disease, said the researchers.
"However, these findings are preliminary and must be investigated further before any recommendations about alcohol consumption can be made." they added.
Source: Xinhua
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