2024 – Page 4 – Oral Cancer News

Does drinking alcohol cause cancer? Learn about the risks

Source: www.mskcc.org Author: Jim Stallard, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center The public is largely unaware of the link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Mixed messages from experts may have added to the confusion. There is strong and consistent evidence that drinking alcohol increases your risk of developing a cancer, based on a growing body of research. Alcohol is estimated to account for 6% of cancer cases in the U.S. — more than 75,000 per year — and nearly 19,000 cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Alcohol is the third biggest controllable risk factor for the disease, after tobacco smoking and excess weight. But most Americans aren’t aware of this link, thanks to seemingly contradictory research and mixed messaging from public health experts. A study published in 2023 found widespread mistaken beliefs that the risk varies by beverage type, with the lowest cancer risk assigned to wine. Another study published in 2021 showed that nearly 70% of people did not even know that alcohol was a cancer risk factor. It’s disturbing that most people aren’t aware of the connection,” says Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) psychologist Jennifer Hay, PhD, who studies how people perceive various cancer risks. “It’s startling, given that many members of the general population are genuinely concerned about their cancer risks. We clearly have a lot of work to do to raise awareness and change the perception.” More cancers could be prevented, she says, if people fully understood the risks of [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2024-01-04T09:57:07-07:00January, 2024|Oral Cancer News|

Dry January might help reduce your risk of cancer

Source: www.iflscience.com Author: Holly Large, Editorial Assistant If one of your New Year’s resolutions happens to be staying sober, scientists at the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have some good news for you: not drinking alcohol, or even just cutting back on the bevs, can reduce your risk of some cancers. There’s already evidence to suggest that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of some cancers; according to WHO estimates, more than 740,000 global cancer cases in 2020 were caused by alcohol use. But as report author Farhad Islami told STAT News, “[W]e wanted to know, what if people stop drinking?” Islami was part of a group of 15 scientists investigating the impact of reducing or ceasing alcohol intake on cancer risk, reviewing over 90 published studies over the course of four months. From this data, the team discovered that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that cutting back on alcohol could be linked to a reduced risk of oral and oesophageal cancers. There was also limited evidence of a reduction in risk for laryngeal, colorectal, and breast cancers. One of the key contributors to risk, the researchers found, was a toxin called acetaldehyde. Also known as ethanal, acetaldehyde is produced by the breakdown of alcohol in the liver. It plays a role in nasty hangovers and, as the studies suggested, increases someone’s risk of cancer. Drinking less alcohol reduces exposure to such a carcinogen and thus, the risks that come with it. In [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2024-01-03T07:40:47-07:00January, 2024|Oral Cancer News|

Incidence of second primary cancers in adult cancer survivors

Source: ascopost.com Author: Matthew Stenger In a Danish population-based retrospective cohort study reported in The Lancet Oncology, Kjaer et al identified the cumulative incidence of second primary cancers among cancer survivors aged ≥ 40 years who were alive 1 year after diagnosis. Study Details The study involved data from 457,334 patients diagnosed with 27 types of cancer between January 1997 and December 2014. Follow-up was from date of first cancer diagnosis and lasted up to 24 years, ending in December 2020. Key Findings Among all survivors, the cumulative incidence of second primary cancer was 6.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.2%–6.4%) at 5 years after diagnosis, 10.5% (95% CI = 10.4%–10.6%) at 10 years after diagnosis, and 13.5% (95% CI = 13.4%–13.7%) at 15 years after diagnosis. The highest cumulative incidence of second primary cancer at 10 years after diagnosis was among survivors of laryngeal cancer (21.8%), oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancer (19.5%), and bladder and urinary tract cancer (18.5%). Most cancer types (17 of the 27 investigated) were associated with a 10-year cumulative incidence of second primary cancer between approximately 10% and 15%. Survivors of liver (2.5%), pancreatic (2.5%), and lung cancer (3.9%) had the lowest 10-year cumulative incidence of second primary cancer. Lung cancer was the most frequent or second most frequent second primary cancer for 7 of the 10 primary cancer types associated with the highest 10-year cumulative incidence of second primary cancer. The sites of second primary cancer varied among patients with the remainder of the [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2024-01-03T07:33:47-07:00January, 2024|Oral Cancer News|