Just one alcoholic drink a day increases the chances of a person developing cancer and the only way to eliminate the risk is go teetotal.
Drinking one standard alcoholic drink a day is linked to a 9pc increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, while three to six pushes this up to 41pc, said Prof Peter Anderson of the Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, England.
Prof Anderson, who was speaking at a conference hosted by the Irish Cancer Society said: "The risk goes up the more you drink. If you want to remove the risk entirely, don't drink. If not, drink less."
He added: "Alcohol consumption can cause cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, oesophagus, liver, colon, and rectum in both men and women, and is a cause of breast cancer in women".
"Three people in Ireland die from oral and pharyngeal cancer (OPC) every week – which is more than skin melanoma or cervical cancer."
On average, Irish alcohol drinkers consume about 37g of alcohol a day.
Alcohol causes one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 cancers in women – a total of 900 new cancer cases each year in Ireland.
Source: Eilish O'Regan, Irish Independent, 30/05/13
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