“Lifetime interviews were conducted with people about their job histories, and detailed information about all the things they could have been exposed to was collected,” she explained. “As it turns out, the data also included information about non-occupational factors such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, diet and socio-economic status, among others.”

Benedetti, the study’s lead author, conducted this research while still a postdoctorial fellow under the supervision of her co-authors, Dr. Siemiatycki and Dr. Parent. Their results were published in the current issue of the journal Cancer Detection and Prevention.

“For the most part we showed that light drinkers were less affected or not affected at all,” said Benedetti. “It is people who drink every day or multiple times a day who are at risk. This adds to the growing body of evidence that heavy drinking is extremely unhealthy in so many ways. Cancer very much included.”

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