Scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (SMC) say that people who drink heavily, and binge drinkers too, are at increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. In the medical world, this condition is viewed as one of the most ruthless forms of the disease. Chances of survival are very slim, and even the most advanced treatments cannot ensure a patient's survival. The correlation was found to be especially true for men, the SMC group reveals in a recent scientific paper. The work is published in the latest online issue of the esteemed scientific journal Cancer Causes and Control.

In the investigation, the researchers compared the pancreatic cancer risks between men who drank a lot, and another group, whose members only drank a little, or not at all. "If this relationship continues to be confirmed, reducing heavy and binge drinking may be more important than we already know," explains SMC assistant professor of internal medicine Dr. Samir Gupta. He is also the lead author of the new research, which took place at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF). For heavy drinkers, the researchers established 150 to 600 percent more chances of cancer developing at one point in their lives, e! Science News reports.

These individuals were compared with peers from a control group. The controls did not drink more than one serving of alcohol per week, and some did not consume the stuff at all. The correlation was found to keep true even when researchers accounted for how far in the past people drank heavily. In the case of big drinkers, the risks of developing pancreatic cancer were found to be some 350 percent higher than in members of the control group. "Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers, so any risk factor that can be identified and addressed may save lives. Our research found that large and frequent amounts of alcohol consumption may be risk factors for pancreatic cancer," Gupta says.

He goes on to say that this form of cancer has the lowest five-year survival rate of any other type of specific cancer known to science. To make matters even worse, the disease is also very difficult to identify, given the fact that the pancreas is located in the upper abdominal cavity, hidden from view. In spite of advancements made in science over the past 30 years, the official statistics of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) show that pancreatic cancer mortality rates declined insignificantly over these decades. Therefore, prevention is key for now, scientists conclude.