Red wine or white? Which one is worse for cancer risk?

• Research is ongoing about how consuming wine may affect the risk of cancer.
• A recent meta-analysis did not find an association between consuming wine and overall cancer risk, regardless of wine type. 
• White wine appeared to increase the risk for cancer when only cohort studies were considered, and to increase the risk for skin cancer and cancer, in general, in women.

Alcohol consumption may increase the risk for some types of cancerTrusted Source, with the amount and frequency affecting risk.

However, there is ongoing research about red wine, with some evidencesupporting that red wine might decrease some cancer risk.

A meta-analysis of observational studies published in Nutrients sought to compare the potential effects of white and red wine on cancer risk.

In their analysis of 42 studies, researchers did not find red or white wine to be associated with overall cancer risk.

However, when they looked at only cohort studies, they found white wine consumption was associated with an increased risk for cancer.

White wine consumption was also associated with an increased risk for cancer in women and an increased risk for skin cancer.

The authors of this meta-analysis note the research regarding wine consumption and cancer risk has been mixed.

For the current meta-analysis, researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health, the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, and Harvard Medical School sought to compare red and white wine consumption and how each beverage affects overall and site-specific cancer risk.

First, they conducted a comprehensive search of the Embase and Pubmed digital archives to find relevant studies. They excluded studies that did not specify the type of wine and articles like literature reviews and experimental studies.

They included 22 case-control studies and 20 cohort studies in the final meta-analysis. Researchers did subgroup analyses looking at wine type and cancer type when there were more than three studies regarding the cancer type.

They examined several site-specific cancers, including prostate cancer, female breast cancer, skin, and lung cancer.

They also conducted analsyses only including the cohort studies since these have less bias risk.

Thirty-seven of the studies looked at site-specific cancer and consumption of red and white wine, while five only looked at red wine.

When researchers compared the greatest to the lowest wine intake, they did not find an association between wine intake and cancer risk. They also did not observe a difference in how red wine or white wine affected cancer risk.

Study author Eunyoung Cho, ScD, associate professor of epidemiology and dermatology at Brown School of Public Health, explained the following to GMHCN:

When looking only at cohort studies, researchers observed that white wine was associated with an increased risk for cancer, while red wine still lacked association.

There did not appear to be a difference in cancer risk for red versus white wine in men. However, in women, white wine was associated with an increased risk for cancer.

Next, researchers examined the dose-response relationship, including three cohort and 12 case-control studies. 

Researchers observed that each additional 10 grams of estimated ethanol from red wine, or about one glass, consumed in a day “was associated with a 5% increase in overall cancer risk.”

However, when only looking at the cohort studies, this association did not persist. Researchers did not observe a significant dose-response relationship for white wine.

When looking at specific cancers, researchers observed that white wine was associated with an increase in the risk of skin cancer by 22%. Researchers did not observe an association between skin cancer and red wine.