This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
White wine may increase risk for melanoma
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
White men and women who drink white wine may have an increased risk for melanoma, especially on parts of the body that receive less sun exposure, according to analysis of three prospective cohort studies published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
“The clinical and biological significance of these findings remains to be determined,” Eunyoung Cho, ScD, associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, said in a press release. “But for motivated individuals with other strong risk factors for melanoma, counseling regarding alcohol use may be an appropriate risk-reduction strategy to reduce risks for melanoma, as well as other cancers.”
Since the 1970s, melanoma incidence has risen steadily in the United States. During that time, Americans’ average consumption of alcohol also increased by 71 kilocalories per person per day. Approximately 3.6% of cancers worldwide have been attributed to alcohol use, mostly cancers of the aerodigestive tract, liver, pancreas, colon, rectum and breast.
Cho and colleagues sought to determine whether alcohol consumption increased the risk for melanoma in 210,252 participants from three large prospective cohort studies.
Researchers followed participants for a mean of 18.3 years. Participants provided their alcohol intake via food frequency questionnaires approximately every 4 years from 1984 to 2007. A standard drink was defined at 12.8 grams of alcohol.
During follow-up, 1,374 cases of invasive melanoma occurred.
Overall, higher alcohol intake was associated with a greater risk for invasive melanoma (HR = 1.14; 95% CI, 1-1.29).
When analyzed by type of beverage, red wine, beer and liquor did not significantly affect melanoma risk. However, each drink per day of white wine was associated with a 13% increased risk for melanoma (pooled multivariate HR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.04-1.24).
Compared with nondrinkers, the heaviest drinkers — defined as those who drank 20 grams or more of alcohol per day — demonstrated a pooled multivariate-adjusted HR for melanoma of 1.23 (95% CI, 0.96-1.59).
Cho and colleagues also reported the association between alcohol and melanoma was strongest for parts of the body that typically receive less sun exposure, like the trunk, than for UV–exposed areas, like the head, neck or extremities (P = .02 for trend).
Compared with nondrinkers, those who consumed more than 20 grams of alcohol per day were 73% more likely to be diagnosed with melanomas of the trunk (HR = 1.73; 95% CI, 1.25-2.38), but only 2% more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma of the head, neck and extremities (HR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.64-1.62).
“Although we hypothesized that other lifestyle factors might modulate how alcohol use affects the risk for cancer,” Cho and colleagues wrote, “there was no evidence that age, smoking history, caffeine intake, physical activity, hair color, mole count or BMI modified the association between alcohol intake and melanoma when results were stratified by those variables.”
It was surprising that white wine was the only drink independently associated with increased risk for melanoma, Cho said in the press release. It has been noted, however, that some wines have higher levels of pre-existing acetaldehyde than beer or spirits, and the antioxidants in red wine may offset the risks associated with acetaldehyde, she said.
Because nonwhite racial and ethnic groups were excluded from the study, its findings cannot be generalized, according to the researchers. The study also did not account for sun-protection behaviors.
Still, modest alcohol intake has been connected with reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, Cho said.
“For drinkers, risks and benefits of alcohol consumption have to be considered individually,” she said, “including the risk related to skin cancer.” – by Chuck Gormley
Disclosure: Cho reports no relevant financial disclosures. One researcher reports consultant roles with AbbVie, Amgen, the CDC, Janssen, Merck, Novartis and Pfizer, as well as compensated investigator roles with Amgen, Regeneron and Sanofi.
Perspective
Back to Top
Jeffrey M. Farma
In this new publication, researchers analyzed three large datasets comparing the use of alcohol and the association of melanoma. Alcohol use has been linked to increased risk for other cancers, and the researchers’ hypothesis was that alcohol may be associated with melanoma, specifically in different locations on the body. Using these large samples of patients, they compared alcohol consumption. The researchers found a link between melanoma and higher alcohol consumption, with white wine being the most associated with melanoma. Interestingly, they also found alcohol intake to be more closely associated with melanoma in less sun-exposed areas, like the trunk of the body. Overall, they described a modest increase for melanoma to be associated with alcohol intake.
In general, these findings are interesting, but in these large studies, it is sometimes difficult to accurately know the true consumption of alcohol. The take-home message from this is to consider moderation for everything. I would not stop drinking wine completely to decrease the risk for melanoma based on this study, but there may be some association between the two. Consider limiting alcohol intake, especially in high risk populations for melanoma.
Disclosure: Farma reports no relevant financial disclosures.
Collapse
Rivera A, et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016:doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0303.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts