Drink Up, Boost Pancreatic Cancer Risk?
March 3, 2009 -- Two alcoholic drinks a day could boost your risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a new study that reanalyzed the results of 14 previously published studies.
"We saw a 22% higher risk of pancreatic cancer in those who drank two or more alcoholic beverages a day compared to nondrinkers," says study researcher Jeanine M. Genkinger, PhD, an assistant professor of oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. That risk is termed ''modest'' by Genkinger and her co-researchers.
Pancreatic cancer, often deadly because it is difficult to diagnose early, was found in nearly 38,000 people in the U.S. in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society. An estimated 6% of U.S. cancer deaths in 2008 were attributed to pancreatic cancer in both men and women.
Two recent high-profile patients include actor Patrick Swayze and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Understanding Pancreatic Cancer
"We saw a 22% higher risk of pancreatic cancer in those who drank two or more alcoholic beverages a day compared to nondrinkers," says study researcher Jeanine M. Genkinger, PhD, an assistant professor of oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. That risk is termed ''modest'' by Genkinger and her co-researchers.
Pancreatic cancer, often deadly because it is difficult to diagnose early, was found in nearly 38,000 people in the U.S. in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society. An estimated 6% of U.S. cancer deaths in 2008 were attributed to pancreatic cancer in both men and women.
Two recent high-profile patients include actor Patrick Swayze and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Understanding Pancreatic Cancer