“”Drink with moderation”. The statement is already incorporated into our relationship with alcohol, although the recommendation does not always apply in practice. However, the 2014 World Cancer Report (WCR), issued by the IARC (World Health Organization´s International Agency for Cancer Research), states that when it comes to cancer, no amount of alcohol is safe. With every drink, the risk grows.

Declared carcinogenic in 1988, alcohol is related to several types of cancer. There is a causal relationship between its consumption and cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colon and rectum, liver and female breast, in addition to a significant relationship also with pancreatic cancer.

In a meta-analysis of 222 studies comprising 92,000 cancer patients who consider themselves to be light alcohol consumers and 60,000 abstainers, moderate drinking was associated with the risk of oropharyngeal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and female breast cancer. From this meta-analysis, it is estimated that in 2004 there were 5,000 deaths from oropharyngeal cancer worldwide, 24,000 from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and 5,000 deaths from breast cancer attributed to alcohol consumption. The numbers are significant and reveal that the subject deserves attention.

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