Ovarian cancer: alcohol has no influence on its development

Alcohol consumption seems to play no role in the development of ovarian cancer, unlike that suggested some recently published studies, say the authors of a large cohort study, whose results are published in the "British Journal of Cancer. "

Alcohol is known for his role in the increased risk of cancers of the upper digestive tract, liver, colon and breast cancer. Some studies have suggested, however, warned that the ovarian carcinogenesis by lowering the levels of FSH, LH and gonadotropin hormones thought to be involved in the development of ovarian cancer.

Several epidemiological studies have been conducted to examine the possible link between alcohol consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer. In a recent meta-analysis, alcohol consumption was associated with a 30% reduction in the risk of developing this disease. But in general, the cohort studies on the topic have yielded conflicting results, do not allow researchers to conclude.

With colleagues at the School of Public Health at Harvard (Boston), Dr. Genkinger analyzed the raw data from ten cohort studies involving a total of some 529,638 women, 2,001 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer and 45 78% of alcohol consumers in different studies.

The researchers did not reveal a link between overall alcohol and the risk of ovarian cancer consumption, and, regardless of the type of alcoholic beverage (wine, beer, digestive) ingested or that of ovarian cancer (serous, endometrioid, mucinous). Hormonal, environmental and nutritional factors were not further modified these results, the researchers reported.

These therefore conclude that the absence of association, in one way or another, between alcohol consumption and the risk of ovarian cancer