Growing numbers of 40-somethings are developing mouth, lip and tongue cancer because they drink too much alcohol, Cancer Research UK warns today.

    Diagnoses of oral cancer have gone up by 28% among men in their 40s and 24% among women the same age since the mid-1990s. The charity says tobacco does not explain the rise, as it takes up to 30 years to cause cancer. Instead it blames rising alcohol consumption.

    Alcohol campaigners responded by calling for cans and bottles to carry cigarette-style health warnings which spell out the risks of drinking too much as a way of reversing the trend.

    "These latest figures are really alarming", said Hazel Nunn, the charity's health information manager. Three-quarters of cases of oral cancer are caused by either smoking or drinking alcohol, tobacco being the single biggest risk. "For people in their 40s, it seems that other factors are also contributing to this jump in oral cancer rates. Alcohol consumption has doubled since the 1950s and the trend we are now seeing is likely to be linked to Britain's continually rising drinking levels," she said. Eating too little fruit and vegetables are also partly to blame for the growth of the HPV virus, which also causes cervical cancer, Nunn said.

    Each year about 5,000 people are diagnosed with oral cancer and about 1,800 die from it. It can be treated successfully if caught early. Warning signs include ulcers, sores, red or white patches in the mouth lasting more than three weeks and unexplained mouth or ear pain.

    Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "These figures demonstrate once again that people are being struck down at ever younger ages with alcohol-related illnesses … There is an urgent need to rethink how we communicate the risks of misuse. The most logical way of getting this across would be through standard warning labels as they do with tobacco products."

    Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: "Many people are not aware of the connection between alcohol and cancer, yet as this research shows, it can be a major contributor or cause of the disease. While alcoholic liver disease remains the number one killer linked to alcohol, more and more people are suffering from oral cancers – and record drinking levels have undeniably played a part."

    Some 41% of cancers of the mouth in Britain could be prevented if no one drank, the World Cancer Research Fund estimated. Regular visits to the dentist can help spot warning signs.

    "英國(guó)癌癥研究"（Cancer Research UK）慈善組織今天警告說(shuō)，由于過(guò)量喝酒，越來(lái)越多的40多歲中年人開(kāi)始患有口腔癌、嘴唇癌及舌癌。

    自上世紀(jì)90年代中期以來(lái)，口腔癌確診病例在40多歲男性中攀升了28%,而在同年齡段的女性中則上升了24%.該慈善機(jī)構(gòu)表示，這個(gè)攀升不是由于吸煙的緣故，因?yàn)槟切枰�長(zhǎng)達(dá)30年才會(huì)導(dǎo)致癌癥。相反，該機(jī)構(gòu)將之歸咎于酒類(lèi)消費(fèi)的不斷增長(zhǎng)。

    節(jié)酒運(yùn)動(dòng)人士對(duì)此做出回應(yīng)，要求各種酒罐和酒瓶標(biāo)注有香煙式的健康警告，清楚地說(shuō)明過(guò)量飲酒的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，以期扭轉(zhuǎn)這一趨勢(shì)。

    該慈善機(jī)構(gòu)的健康信息經(jīng)理哈澤爾·納恩（Hazel Nunn）說(shuō)："這些最新數(shù)據(jù)確實(shí)令人震驚。" 四分之三的口腔癌病例是由于吸煙或飲酒而引起的，而吸煙是其中最大的單個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)因素。她說(shuō)："對(duì)于40多歲的人來(lái)說(shuō)，其他因素似乎也促使了口腔癌發(fā)病率的這一增長(zhǎng)。自1950年代以來(lái)，酒類(lèi)消費(fèi)增加了一倍，而我們目前所看到的這一趨勢(shì)，很可能與英國(guó)酒類(lèi)消費(fèi)水平的不斷上升有關(guān)。"納恩指出，水果和蔬菜吃得太少，也是人類(lèi)乳突病毒（HPV virus）感染增加的部分原因，而這種病毒也會(huì)導(dǎo)致子宮頸癌。

    每年約有5000人被診斷為口腔癌患者，其中大約1800人因此病故。如果及早發(fā)現(xiàn)，口腔癌是可以治療成功的。警報(bào)癥狀包括潰瘍、皮炎，口腔里出現(xiàn)持續(xù)時(shí)間達(dá)三周以上的紅斑或白斑，以及原因不明的嘴疼或耳疼。

    英國(guó)皇家內(nèi)科醫(yī)師學(xué)會(huì)（Royal College of Physicians）主席伊恩？吉爾摩（Ian Gilmore）說(shuō)："這些數(shù)據(jù)再次表明，人們?cè)诒纫郧案鼮槟贻p的年齡時(shí)，就患上與酒精有關(guān)的疾病…現(xiàn)在迫切需要重新思考：我們?cè)撊绾斡行Ц嬷�大眾過(guò)度飲酒的危害。有效傳達(dá)的最合理方式就是，像煙草產(chǎn)品一樣，在酒類(lèi)產(chǎn)品上貼上標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的警示標(biāo)簽。"

    " 酒精關(guān)注"（Alcohol Concern）機(jī)構(gòu)總裁唐？申克（Don Shenker）說(shuō)："許多人沒(méi)有意識(shí)到酒精和癌癥之間的聯(lián)系，然而，正如這一研究表明，酒精可以是造成該疾病的主要原因。雖然酒精性肝病仍然是與酒精相關(guān)的第一大致死疾病，然而越來(lái)越多的人開(kāi)始患上口腔癌--無(wú)疑，創(chuàng)記錄的飲酒消費(fèi)對(duì)此起著作用。

    世界癌癥研究基金會(huì)（World Cancer Research Fund）估計(jì)，如果沒(méi)人飲酒的話，英國(guó)約有41%的口腔癌可以避免。定期看牙醫(yī)有助于發(fā)現(xiàn)警報(bào)癥狀。