Ads to spotlight cancer risk

Link between alcohol and a range of cancers the focus of graphic campaign

A NEW graphic ad campaign showing how alcohol makes its way through the bloodstream to damage healthy cells in its path, has been launched to highlight the link between alcohol consumption and eight types of cancer.

Alcohol causes more than 3200 cancer cases every year in Australia. For the past 30 years the World Health Organisation has ranked alcohol as a class one carcinogen, the highest level of risk alongside tobacco and asbestos.

But new research from Cancer Council Victoria has revealed there is poor community awareness about the hidden toll of grog.

In a survey of 1800 Australian adults, just 19 per cent were aware of the link between booze and breast cancer, and only 23 per cent knew alcohol could cause mouth cancer.

Alcohol is known to cause cancers of the mouth and throat, oesophagus, bowel and liver, as well as breast cancer in post menopause by mutating the instruction manuals inside cells, by damaging tissues, and upsetting hormone levels.

There is also evidence that it also probably increases the risk of stomach cancer and breast cancer in younger women.

Combining alcohol consumption and smoking significantly escalates cancer risk.

Cancer Council Victoria chief Todd Harper said the organisation's Drink Less, Live More campaign, which will run over the next month on TV and online, aimed to simply spell out the damage alcohol can do when travelling around the body.

“You tend to get a very onesided view of alcohol from the alcohol industry, so people have a limited understanding of the relationship between alcohol and cancer,” Mr Harper said. “There is a lot at stake here, because everyone wants to reduce their risk of getting cancer.”

National health guidelines recommend a maximum of two standard drinks per day, and no more than four drinks on any one occasion.

Melbourne radiation onco- logist Dr Bronwyn King, who successfully fought to get big superannuation funds to divest tobacco stocks, said while the dangers of smoking were wellknown, many of her patients were unaware that alcohol was linked to cancer.

“It’s really important the community knows about this link so they can make informed decisions about their own lifestyle choices,” Dr King said.