Latest research claims that consuming three alcoholic drinks per day increases the risk of liver cancer.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) assessed 34 prior studies that included 8.2 million people of whom over 24,500 had liver cancer. The assessment was part of the Continuous Update Project (CUP) report that focuses on liver cancer.
Previous studies have found that consuming alcohol was linked to the development of several types of cancer. However, a new research has confirmed for the first time that consuming three alcoholic drinks may lead to 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," says Amanda Mclean, director of WCRF UK.
The WCRF also recommends that people who want to drink should limit their drinks to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Exceeding three alcoholic drinks per day increases the risk of developing liver cancer even more.
Liver cancer is one of the most deadly forms of cancer to humans with a survival rate of 12 percent after five years. In 2012, around 782,000 liver cancer cases were diagnosed across the world and more than 4,700 liver cancer cases in the U.K.
Anti-alcohol groups suggest that not many people are aware of the risks associated with heavy alcohol consumption. Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) U.K. has also called for the government to introduce laws that require mandatory health warning labelling on alcohol products.
The precise cause of liver cancer still remains unknown; however, most liver cancer cases are linked with scarring and damage of the liver, which is known as cirrhosis that is caused by heavy and prolonged alcoholic drinking habit or having hepatitis C or hepatitis B viral infection.
Alcohol consumption is on the rise in the U.K. Experts suggest that after Finland, U.K. is second country in Europe where alcohol related deaths are on the rise.
The CUP report also highlighted that obesity is another cause of liver cancer. Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and millions of people across the globe are either overweight or obese. Around 61 percent of the U.K. population is obese.
The WCRF reveals that about 24 percent of the liver cancer cases in the U.K. were preventable if people were able to limit their drinks and also healthy weight.
Photo: Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social | Flickr
