酒精和癌症风险：有何关联？

Alcohol can cause serious health issues such as liver disease, heart disease, alcohol dependence and more—and the amount you indulge also plays an important role in cancer risk. Whatever you decide to do when it comes to consuming alcohol, knowing the facts is a great place to start.

酒精和癌症风险之间有什么联系？

Drinking alcohol increases the risk of several types of cancer including 胸部, colorectal, esophageal, 肝 和 oral cancers. The National Toxicology Program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) both classify alcoholic beverages as a known 人类致癌物.

研究表明，一个人喝酒越多——尤其是长期经常喝酒的人——患上与酒精相关的癌症的风险就越高。即使是每天喝酒不超过一杯的人，与完全不喝酒的人相比，患癌症的风险也更高。

饮酒如何增加患癌症的风险？

It comes down to how alcohol is metabolized, or broken down, by your body. When you drink alcohol, ethanol—the form of alcohol contained in alcoholic beverages—is changed into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde causes damage to the DNA of your cells and prevents your body from repairing this damage, resulting in changes to how your cells grow and divide. This can lead to tumor formation.

Alcohol also increases the levels of some hormones, including estrogen, that make cells divide more often, increasing the chance of cancer. The amount of alcohol is not what causes these changes, but rather it’s the alcohol itself doing the damage. All alcoholic drinks—whether beer, wine or liquor—are linked with cancer, and no amount is considered safe.

尽管有这些证据，但大多数人并不知道酒精和癌症之间的联系，即使是那些知道的人，也会感到困惑。美国国家癌症研究所在一项研究中发现 2023 年研究 超过 60% 的美国成年人不知道酒精和癌症之间的联系。许多人错误地认为风险因饮酒类型而异，包括那些认为饮用烈酒比饮用啤酒更容易患癌症的人，以及那些认为饮用葡萄酒可以降低癌症风险的人。不幸的是，事实并非如此。

另请阅读 | 5 myths about alcohol and cancer risk

饮用任何量的酒都是安全的吗？

Avoiding alcohol completely is best when it comes to reducing your cancer risk as no amount is considered “safe.” Recommendations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and USDHHS’ 美国人膳食指南 2020-2025 建议限制摄入量不超过 女性每天喝 1 杯，男性每天喝 2 杯 是针对您整体健康的指导方针，并非专门针对癌症。您喝得越多，患癌症的风险就越高。

但一切还不算完！对于那些曾经喝酒并戒酒的人，或者曾经酗酒但不再喝酒的人，你的癌症风险会随着时间的推移而下降。研究正在进行中，以确定戒酒后风险下降的幅度和速度。在得到更多确切信息之前，就癌症风险而言，完全避免饮酒是最好的选择。

另请阅读 | 为健康干杯：将受欢迎的鸡尾酒变成无酒精鸡尾酒

另请阅读 | What a behavioral scientist wants you to know about alcohol & cancer risk

本月花点时间学习如何增强自我能力，降低癌症风险并改善整体健康状况。要了解更多降低癌症风险或及早发现癌症的方法，请访问 预防癌症.