A review of two long term studies tracking more than 100,000 health professionals in the US has found that one drink a day increased a woman's risk of breast cancer by 13 per cent compared to women who did not drink at all.

The research published in the prestigious British Medical Journal has already prompted some experts to recommend women limit their alcohol intake to one drink a day.

At the moment, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council recommends both men and women limit their alcohol intake to two drinks a day.

The BMJ research also found that the risk of alcohol-related cancers was higher among men who consumed up to two drinks a day, but only if they had a history of smoking. No association was found between light drinking and cancer for men who had never smoked.

While heavy alcohol consumption has long been linked to cancer, particularly of the breast, bowel, mouth, liver and oesophagus, the relationship between light to moderate drinking and cancer has been less clear.

In an attempt to shed more light on this, a team of researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston examined data tracking the health of 88,084 women and 47,881 men for up to 30 years. The participants were surveyed on their health including their alcohol consumption every few years.

Light to moderate drinking was defined as up to one standard drink or 15g alcohol per day for women and up to two standard drinks or 30g alcohol per day for men. One standard drink is roughly equivalent to a small (118ml) glass of wine or a 355ml bottle of beer.

Other influential factors, such as age, ethnicity, body mass index, family history of cancer, history of cancer screening, smoking, physical activity and diet were also taken into account.

In an editorial about the research, Dr Jürgen Rehm from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto said women should not exceed one standard drink a day and men should not exceed two standard drinks a day.

He said people with a family history of cancer should also consider reducing their intake to below recommended limits or even abstaining altogether, "given the now well-established link between moderate drinking and alcohol-related cancers."

Chief executive of Cancer Council Australia Sanchia Aranda said the BMJ study was significant, particularly because of its size, and she said it could cause the NHMRC to change its drinking guidelines when it next reviews them.

Professor Aranda said while there may be a safe level of alcohol consumption for some people, many health professionals believe there should be different recommendations for men and women based on their different levels of risk.

"No more than two standard drinks a day is the NHMRC recommendation. Although most commentators would say that is at the upper limit of safe and there has certainly been controversy over whether there should have been a separation between men and women," she said.

"For most people the current recommendations are probably safe, but if you've got a heightened risk of cancer from a family history or you're a smoker, obviously lower consumption is wise."

Professor Aranda said while alcohol appeared to increase a person's risk of various cancers, it was not as threatening as smoking.

"It certainly pales in significance next to smoking. One in two people who smoke will die of a smoking related illness... There isn't any safe level (of smoking)," she said.

Women wanting to calculate their risk of breast cancer can use Cancer Australia's calculator.