Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2002 Jul;51(1):132-9.
doi: 10.1136/gut.51.1.132.

Cocarcinogenic effects of alcohol in hepatocarcinogenesis

F Stickel  1 , D Schuppan, E G Hahn, H K Seitz
Affiliations
Review

Cocarcinogenic effects of alcohol in hepatocarcinogenesis

F Stickel et al. Gut. 2002 Jul.

Abstract

Alcohol is a major aetiological factor in hepatocarcinogenesis but our understanding of its importance as a modulating factor is just beginning to emerge. In the present review, a number of possible cofactors and mechanisms are discussed by which alcohol may enhance the development of hepatoma. These include dietary or environmental carcinogens ingested along with alcoholic beverages, alcoholic cirrhosis as a precancerous condition, and the effects of alcohol metabolism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Alcohol as a promoter of hepatocarcinogenesis. Both activation and inactivation of procarcinogens can occur. Alcohol per se is a tumour promoter but may contribute to initiation via procarcinogen activation. ADH, alcohol dehydrogenase; ALDH, aldehyde dehydrogenase; CYP 2E1, cytochrome P450 2E1; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Interaction of alcohol with methyl transfer. Alcohol impairs one carbon metabolism via interfering with (1) folate uptake and generation of tetrahydrofolate (THF); (2) degradation of pyridoxal-5`-phosphate (PLP) at several sites; and (3) inhibition of methyl transfer to DNA via inhibition of methyltransferase, resulting in hypomethylation and consequently enhanced transcription of certain oncogenes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. El-Serag HB, Mason AC. Risk factors for the rising rates of primary liver cancer in the United States. Arch Intern Med 2000;160:3227–30 - PubMed
    1. Muir C, Waterhouse J, Mack T, et al. Cancer incidence in five continents. In: World Health Organization. New York: IARC Scientific Publications 1987:5:88.
    1. Becker N, Wahrendorf J. Atlas of cancer mortality in the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin: Springer, 1998.
    1. Taylor-Robinson SD, Foster GR, Arora S, et al. Increase in primary liver cancer in the UK, 1979–94. Lancet 1997;350:1142–3. - PubMed
    1. Oka H, Kurioka N, Kim K, et al. Prospective study of early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with cirrhosis. Hepatology 1990;12:680–7. - PubMed

MeSH terms