Heavy Drinking and Cancer Linked at Cellular Level

A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research identifies structures at the cellular level that appear to explain a link between heavy alcohol use and cancer, HealthDay News reported April 21.

Andrea Baccarelli, who heads a research center at the University of Milan, reported that a team of investigators found the connection in looking at telomeres — structures at the end of chromosomes that shorten as people age. In comparing DNA from a group of 59 heavy drinkers with 197 individuals who drank less, the researchers found that telomeres were considerably shorter in the heavy-drinking group.

Heavy alcohol use has been linked with premature aging and earlier onset of illnesses associated with aging, such as cancer, according to the researchers.

“The decrease we found in telomere length is very sharp, and we were surprised to find such a strong effect at the cellular level,” Baccarelli said.