It is well known that there seems to be a strong link between alcohol intake and cancers of the upper digestive tract, because of the carcinogenic effect of alcohol. But does the type of alcohol we drink make a difference? In this week's BMJ Dr Morten Gronbaek from the Copenhagen Centre for Prospective Studies and colleagues from Denmark report that a moderate intake of wine is better than beer or spirits, which increase the risk of upper digestive tract cancers considerably.

In their study of over 28,000 (28,180) men and women in Denmark, the authors found that wine drinkers may be at a lower risk of developing upper digestive tract cancer than drinkers who have a similar intake of beer or spirits. They suggest that this may be due to the presence of resveratrol, a substance found in grapes, which has been shown to inhibit the initiation, promotion and progression of cancer.

Contact:

Dr Morten Gronbaek, Senior Research Fellow, Copenhagen Centre for Prospective Studies, Danish Epidemiology Science Centre at the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Kommunehospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark