Study Links Regular Alcohol Consumption to Skin Cancer

It’s no secret that drinking alcohol on a regular basis can be dangerous to your health, but you can now add yet another risk to that list ─ skin cancer. A new study published in the British Journal of Dermatology, reveals that for every 0.35 ounces of alcohol intake per day (the amount found in a standard drink), the risk of developing basal cell carcinoma (BCC) increases by 7 percent. In the case of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) the risk increases by 11 percent. These are the two most common types of non-melanoma skin cancer.

The study was conducted by researchers at Brown University and analyzed 95,241 non-melanoma skin cancer cases. However, this is not the first time that Brown University has linked alcohol to skin cancer. In a previous study of over 210,252 skin cancer cases, researchers linked drinking a glass of white wine a day to a 14 percent higher risk of developing melanoma. They attributed the increased risk to acetaldehyde, a carcinogen that is found in all alcohol. The amount of acetaldehyde in white wine is particularly high.

Previous research has also shown that regular alcohol consumption significantly increases the risks of developing mouth, pharyngeal (upper throat), esophageal (esophagus), laryngeal (voice box), breast, colorectal (colon and rectum), and liver cancer.