BETHESDA, Md., Mar 24, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A red flushing facial response
from drinking alcohol may signal a genetic susceptibility to esophageal cancer
risk, U.S. and Japanese researchers said.
"It is very important for clinicians who treat patients of East Asian descent to
be aware of the risk of esophageal cancer from alcohol consumption in their
patients who exhibit the alcohol flushing response, so they can counsel them
about limiting their drinking," Kenneth R. Warren, acting director of the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said in a statement.
Heavy alcohol consumption greatly increases the risk for esophageal cancer among
such individuals, who comprise about 8 percent of the world's population, Warren
said.
First author Philip J. Brooks, of NIAAA's Laboratory of Neurogenetics, and
colleagues note that a clinician can reliably determine whether a patient is at
risk simply by asking about previous episodes of facial flushing after drinking
alcohol.
"Cancer of the esophagus is particularly deadly, with five-year survival rates
ranging from 12 (percent) to 31 percent throughout the world," Brooks said. "We
estimate that at least 540 million people have this alcohol-related increased
risk for esophageal cancer, and we hope that, by raising awareness of this
important public health problem, affected individuals who drink will reduce
their cancer risk by limiting their alcohol consumption."
The review appears in the journal PLoS Medicine.
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