Study Suggests Red Wine May Protect Against Lung Cancer
But authors say research, which focused on men, doesn't mean it's OK to smoke
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Men who drink a moderate amount of red wine may lower their risk of lung cancer, even if they smoke, researchers report.
"An antioxidant component in red wine may help to prevent lung cancer," said lead researcher Chun Chao, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research and Evaluation. "The findings provide an impetus for future research to find out if there is something in red wine that may help to either prevent or treat lung cancer."
But the researchers cautioned that the findings don't mean that it's OK to smoke.
For the study, Chao's group collected data on 84,170 men who participated in the California Men's Health Study. Among these men, the researchers identified 210 cases of lung cancer.
The researchers found that there was, on average, a 2 percent lower risk of lung cancer associated with each glass of red wine consumed per month.
The greatest reduction was among men who smoked and drank one to two glasses of red wine a day. These men lowered their risk for lung cancer by 60 percent, Chao's group found.
The reduction wasn't as pronounced among nonsmokers who drank one to two glasses of red wine a day. And no reduction in risk for lung cancer was associated with white wine, beer or liquor, the researchers said.
Despite the findings, Chao warned against thinking that smoking and drinking red wine can actually prevent lung cancer.
"Men who smoke should stop smoking," she said. "Even men who drink one or two glasses of red wine per day still face a greater risk of lung cancer than do nonsmokers. This study should not be used as an excuse to drink more red wine. Moderation is always the best course."
The findings were published in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Dr. Leonard Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer, doesn't think that one study proves that red wine will protect you from lung cancer.
"It's an interesting study, and it raises interesting questions about whether or not there is a cancer protective effect in red wine," he said. "It is important that this be looked at further to see if that association holds up."
Lichtenfeld noted that there have been previous reports of a benefit of red wine for cancer prevention that didn't pan out. "Before we get overly excited about this, we really need to see these effects replicated," he said.
"Clearly, we aren't recommending that smokers go out and start consuming large amounts of red wine as a potential protection from getting lung cancer," he added. "There are other research reports that show that any alcohol, including red wine, can increase the risk of other cancers such as breast cancer."
研究表明，紅葡萄酒可預防肺癌
但作者認爲這項集中在男性中進行的研究並不意味着吸菸可以高枕無憂了
研究人員提出，人們如果適量喝一些紅葡萄酒，即使吸菸，也可降低患肺癌的風險。
“紅葡萄酒中有一種抗氧化成分可有助於預防肺癌，” Kaiser Permanente的南加利福尼亞研究與評價部的研究員、該項目首席研究員Chun Chao說，“該研究結果推動將來爲弄清紅葡萄酒中是否含有有助於預防或治療肺癌的某種物質進行研究。”
但研究人員也提醒，該研究結果並非意味着吸菸可以高枕無憂了。
爲進行該項研究，Chao的研究小組收集了84170名“加利福尼亞男性健康研究”參與者的資料。研究人員在這些參與者中查出210名肺癌患者。
研究人員發現，每月每喝一杯紅葡萄酒，患肺癌的風險平均降低百分之二。
吸菸並且每天喝一到兩杯紅葡萄酒的人，患肺癌的風險降低最多。Chao的研究小組發現，這些人患肺癌的風險降低了百分之六十。
但不吸菸的人每天喝一到兩杯紅葡萄酒，他們患肺癌的風險卻未見明顯降低。研究人員說，喝白葡萄酒、啤酒或白酒不會降低患肺癌的風險。
雖然有了這項研究結果，但Chao提醒人們，不要以爲吸菸再喝紅葡萄酒便可預防肺癌。
“吸菸的人還是應該戒菸，” Chao說。“即使每天喝一杯或兩杯紅葡萄酒，吸菸人仍比不吸菸人患肺癌的風險要高。該研究不應成爲人們多喝紅葡萄酒的藉口，適量總歸是上策。”
該研究結果發表在“美國癌症研究協會”的雜誌《癌症流行病學，生物標記與預防》十月號上。
“美國癌症學會”醫療副總監倫納德· 林岑菲爾德博士認爲，單單一項研究並不證明紅葡萄酒會使人遠離肺癌。
“這項研究很有意思，對紅葡萄酒是否具有防癌效果提出了有趣的問題，” 林岑菲爾德博士說，“重要的是應該對此做進一步研究，看一看是否總能看到這樣的防癌效果。”
林岑菲爾德博士指出，以前曾報導過紅葡萄酒對預防癌症有好處，但這些報導最終都沒有結果。他說，“我們真需要反覆看到紅葡萄酒的防癌效果，然後再高興也不遲。”
“顯然，我們並非提議吸菸人都來喝大量的紅葡萄酒作爲潛在的保護措施，預防肺癌，” 他還說，“另外有一些研究報告表明，任何酒類，包括紅葡萄酒在內，都可能增加患其他癌症，比如乳腺癌的風險。”