Rhiannon Mills, Sky News reporter

Drinking more than two alcoholic drinks a day can significantly increase the risk of some cancers - with at least 13,000 cases a year in the UK linked to drinking.

NHS guidelines are that men should drink no more than three to four units a day, while women should not go over two to three units a day.

But research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found cancer risks at even lower levels.

"Our data show that many cancer cases could have been avoided if alcohol consumption is limited to two alcoholic drinks per day in men and one alcoholic drink per day in women, which are the recommendations of many health organisations," the report's authors said.
"And even more cancer cases would be prevented if people reduced their alcohol intake to below recommended guidelines or stopped drinking alcohol at all."

Cancers of the pharynx, oesophagus and voice box were most commonly caused by alcohol, followed by liver.

Experts analysed data from eight European countries, including the UK, and worked out what proportion of men and women were drinking above guidelines of 24g of alcohol a day for men and 12g a day for women.

In the UK, one unit is defined as 8g of alcohol, meaning 12g is roughly a small 125ml glass of white wine (1.6 units). A 175ml glass of red wine at 13% strength is the equivalent of 18.4g of alcohol (2.3 units), as is one pint of 4% lager. The research found that men in Germany were the most likely to exceed 24g a day (43.8% of the male population), followed by Denmark (43.6%) and the UK (41.1%). Among women, Germans were most likely to drink over 12g a day (43.5% of women), followed by those in Denmark (41%) and the UK (37.7%). One in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women across Western Europe are caused by drinking, according to the research.

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