삼성서울병원

 

Light alcohol consumption has no effect on the risk of developing biliary tract cancer in normoglycemic individuals, but caution is needed as it significantly increases the risk of biliary tract cancer in those with prediabetes or diabetes, even with 2-3 glasses of beer or soju.

 

A research team led by Professor Hong, Jung Yong from the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Samsung Medical Center analyzed 9,520,629 individuals who underwent health screening from the Korean National Health Insurance Services in 2009. They stated, “Unlike normoglycemic individuals, if people with prediabetes or diabetes consume even a small amount of alcohol, it significantly increases the risk of developing biliary tract cancer.”

 

This research was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, one of the world's top academic journals in the field of cancer.

 

Furthermore, it has drawn great attention from academia for identifying the relationship between small consumption of alcohol and the risk of biliary tract cancer, which has been unclear so far, and also by revealing that the effect of alcohol on the development of biliary tract cancer differs depending on the blood sugar level.

 

When analyzing factors that can affect the development of biliary tract cancer in people with prediabetes or diabetes, such factors include age, gender, body mass index, smoking history, activity level, cholesterol level, and the degree of liver fibrosis; even a small amount of alcohol consumption itself can cause biliary tract cancer.

 

Moreover, high insulin resistance increases the risk of developing biliary tract cancer, which is doubled when combined with alcohol.

 

Professor Hong, Jung Yong, who led this study, stated, "The first step in preventing biliary tract cancer in people with prediabetes or diabetes is not to drink alcohol," and emphasized, “if you have high blood sugar, you should avoid drinking alcohol all together, and not think that drinking a small amount is okay.”