Link found between alcohol and cancer

WASHINGTON, Aug 10, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have developed a new analysis method that establishes a link between alcohol and cancer.

Researchers said they used a novel chemical assay that uncovered a chain of chemical reactions which, under certain physiological conditions, may lead from alcohol to a known mutagen.

It has been known for years that there is a statistical relationship between excessive alcohol consumption and an increased risk of certain cancers, particularly upper gastrointestinal cancer.

While alcohol itself is not a carcinogen, it's metabolized in the body to form a suspected carcinogen.

The missing link, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the National Institutes of Health, is a class of chemicals called polyamines that are produced in cells and believed to be involved in cell growth.

The team demonstrated the link using a sensitive chemical analysis technique called liquid chromatography/isotope-dilution mass spectrometry developed at NIST.