[Alcohol consumption and cancer risk].

It has been established that alcohol consumption is associated with elevated cancer incidence and mortality. Recently the International Agency for Cancer Research (World Health Organization) stated that acetaldehyde associated with alcoholic beverages is carcinogenic to humans and confirmed the Group 1 classification of alcohol consumption and of ethanol in alcoholic beverages. Alcohol causes cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, colorectum, liver and female breast. Very little is known about safe margins of alcohol consumption. There is a dose-response relationship between alcohol and cancer risk for men and women, with studies showing that the risk of cancer increases with increasing consumption of alcohol on a regular basis.