LONDON: A single glass of wine everyday for an year could trigger breast cancer and other tumours, a new study by an international team of researchers has claimed.

Researchers compared the effects between those who consumed up to one typical drink of alcohol a day with 'non-drinkers' in terms of relative risks for a number of types of cancer.

The study concluded there were detectable increases in cancer cases involving the mouth, throat, gullet and breast.

The team, from the University of Milan and other centres in the US, Canada, Iran, France and Sweden, estimated that in just one year, light drinking caused 24,000 deaths from oesophageal cancer, 5,000 from oral and 5,000 from breast cancer worldwide, the Daily Mail reported.

The latest research pooled data from a number of previous studies, involving more than 150,000 people.

The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research who reviewed the findings said they were concerned about a number of aspects of the study.

These included the fact the investigators included both ex-drinkers and never drinkers in their reference group and that they had no data on the duration of alcohol consumption at different levels.

The researchers also did not adjust their estimates for other lifestyle habits, including smoking. All of these factors tend to weaken the implications of their results, they said.

The study was published in the Annals of Oncology.