According to an American study men and women who drink more than two alcoholic beverages a day are more at risk of cancer of the pancreas.

The research consisted of 14 different studies involving a total of 862 664 subjects, 2 187 of whom with cancer of the pancreas.

Individuals who drank 30 g or more alcohol per day (which approximately corresponds with two standard units) showed a slight increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer compared with total abstainers. The effect is identical for men and women, except that the increase of the risk among women begins with two or more units while, among men, it begins with three or more units. No difference was observed between consumption of beer, wine or spirits.

“Cancer of the pancreas is a fatal disease and we know little about its risk factors”, so says Jeanine Genkingern, who led the research. “It is therefore of great importance to learn the risk factors of this dangerous disease, even though they may be limited. We do know that chronic inflammation of the pancreas, diabetes and smoking are the biggest risk factors for cancer of the pancreas.