Wine intake may increase survival in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking wine, but not beer or liquor, appears to be associated with better survival and reduced risk of relapse in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to research reported at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Denver this week.

"In line with the previous cell, animal and human studies...our study also supports the benefit of moderate drinking of wine on cancer patients," lead investigator Xuesong Han, a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Public Health, told Reuters Health.

The study team analyzed whether pre-diagnostic alcohol consumption had an impact on prognosis and survival in 546 women with NHL who were followed for 8 to 12 years.

Compared to non-wine drinkers, wine drinkers had better 5-year overall survival (76% vs. 68%) and disease-free survival (70% vs. 65%).

"An analysis by NHL subtype shows that the favorable effects of wine consumption was mainly seen for patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common NHL subtype," Han noted. These patients had a 40% to 50% reduced risk of death, relapse, and secondary cancer.

The researchers also found that NHL patients who had been drinking wine for more than 25 years prior to their diagnosis had a 33% reduced risk of death and a 26% reduced risk of relapse, secondary cancer, or death, when compared to non-wine drinkers.

The subgroup with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma who had been drinking wine more than 25 years before diagnosis had about a 60% reduced risk of death, relapse, or secondary cancer.

Beer and/or liquor consumption did not show a benefit in terms of outcome.

"It is clear that lifestyle factors like alcohol can affect outcome," Han commented in an AACR-issued statement. "Animal and cell studies showed that the antioxidants in grapes helped inhibit the development of tumors, and several epidemiological studies showed alcohol drinking might be associated with a reduced risk of NHL, so I wasn't so surprised by my findings," she added in comments to Reuters Health.

"However," the investigator added, "I wouldn't rush to make recommendations to drink more at this moment, because our study needs replication from other data, and excessive drinking could put one (at risk for) so many other problems."

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