Table 3.

Association of alcohol with cancer risk in human studies.

Type of cancer	Epidemiological studies / Clinical trials	References
Breast Cancer	High alcohol consumption cause higher risk	[17], [20]
	Threshold below 1-2 drinks daily, a hormone-related mechanism mediates a relation of alcohol drinking to an increased risk	[18]
	Weekly alcohol intake increased the risk with 2% and weekend consumption increased the risk with 4% for each additional drink consumed. Binge drinking of 4-5 drinks the latest weekday increased risk with 55%.	[19]
	In women with low BMI and those diagnosed with ER-positive tumors or with invasive rather than in situ disease, moderate consumption increased risk	[21]
Lung Cancer	Association of risk with regular consumption of beer, spirits	[60]
	High consumption of beer and liquors may be associated with increased risk, whereas modest wine consumption may be inversely associated with risk	[61]
	Association between recent hard-liquor and past liquor consumption with risk	[62]
	Positive association between alcohol consumption and risk confined to current smokers	[63]
	Alcohol consumption was not significantly associated with the risk	[64]
	High mean lifelong ethanol intake related to a higher risk	[65]
Colon Cancer	Alcohol consumption of >/=30.0 g/day was positively associated with the risk	[89]
	Association between alcohol intake and cancer was evident for both the colon and the rectum. One fourth of CRC cases were attributable to an alcohol intake of >/=23 g/day in men	[90]
	Both lifetime and baseline alcohol consumption increase colon and rectum cancer risk, with more apparent risk increases for alcohol intakes >30 g/day	[91]
	Drinking >/=7 alcoholic drinks/week increase risk of CRC hazard ratio by 72%	[92]
	Alcohol consumption associated with an increased risk of cancer of the distal colon and rectum, but not cancer of the proximal colon	[93]
	Increase in risk of colon or rectal cancer by 15% for an increase of 100 g of alcohol intake/week	[94]
	An increased risk of CRC in current drinkers and in those who drank >/= 4 days or >4 units weekly and decrease with increasing duration of drinking abstention	[95]