New research published in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tries to separate the effect of smoking from that of alcohol on lung cancer risk. After reviewing pooled data from seven studies on diet and cancer, researchers feel that the data provides weak evidence of a link between alcohol consumption and lung cancer risk, at least in men who never smoked.

Although smoking is the main cause of lung cancer, not much is known about risk factors for nonsmokers. While mortality due to lung cancer is high in studies of alcoholics, the researchers feel that the greater risk may be explained, at least in part, by the fact that the people in these populations were also more likely to be smokers.

Among men who never smoked, consumption of 15 grams or more of alcohol per day was associated with a 6-fold increased risk of developing lung cancer. While this finding is "notable," the authors say the absolute risk of lung cancer in this group is small.

Summary of the study available here.