Two genetic variants reduce cancer-causing effects of alcohol

May 27, 2008

Alcohol causes cancerThe ways that our genes and our lifestyle choices interact to affect our risk of cancer is one of the most fascinating areas of research in cancer prevention. But it’s all still a bit of a grey area. So most health messages tend to be very broad and general – simply because the evidence they are based on comes from studies of large groups of genetically diverse people.

But this is starting to change, as studies get more sophisticated. For example, a new piece of research published this week in Nature Genetics identifies two rare versions of the genes ADH1B and ADH7 that can lessen the harmful effects of alcohol in causing cancer in people who carry them.

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Posted by Ed Yong