Alcohol and Cancer Risk Fact Sheet NCI

Alcohol is especially likely to cause squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer that happens in the lining of your esophagus. Too much alcohol can double your chances of liver cancer compared to drinking no alcohol. To date, no experimental

evidence indicates that alcohol by itself can cause cancer-that is, that alcohol

can act as a complete carcinogen.

“Educating the public about how alcohol increases cancer risk will not only empower consumers to make more informed decisions, but may also prevent and reduce excessive alcohol use, as well as cancer morbidity and mortality,” he said. I know far too many people who now throw up their hands at every news story because it seems as if “everything” causes cancer. The absolute risks of light and moderate drinking are small, while many people derive pleasure from the occasional cocktail or glass of wine. It’s perfectly reasonable even if a risk exists — and the overall risk is debatable — to decide that the quality of life gained from that drink is greater than the potential harms it entails.

Consumption and the Risk of Cancer

Hollings is committed to educating the public about behavioral choices that could have negative impacts as part of the mission to reduce the burden of cancer in South Carolina. Ben Toll, Ph.D., director of MUSC’s Tobacco Treatment Program, said the link between smoking and alcohol consumption can’t be ignored. The authors noted potential eco sober house rating limitations include the unconditional structure of some survey questions; for example, questions about awareness of the alcohol-cancer link were not stratified according to how much a respondent drank. They also noted that some data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Americans reported drinking more than usual.

The new findings show that “most Americans don’t know that alcohol is a leading modifiable risk factor for cancer,” Andrew Seidenberg, Ph.D., who was a cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute when the research was conducted, tells TODAY.com. At this point in time, there are no studies to distinguish consuming alcohol all in one night versus spread out over the course of a week related to cancer development. I encourage all of my patients to drink responsibly but never want anyone to feel guilty about enjoying alcohol in moderation. Studies show that the less alcohol you drink, the lower your cancer risk. Choosing low-alcohol options is a great way to socialize without feeling “left out.” However, beware that these beverages can contain added sugar and calories that could contribute to inflammation and other health issues over time. And as a physician, she thinks about the things she can say individually to a patient, one on one, to encourage them to reduce their drinking.

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The problem is that certain misconceptions and conflicting information have prevented this knowledge from reaching much of the public in an environment where the beverage industry largely controls the messaging. A 40-year-old woman has an absolute risk of 1.45 percent of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years. This announcement would argue that if she’s a light drinker, that risk would become 1.51 percent. Using what’s known as the Number Needed to Harm, this could be interpreted such that if 1, year-old women became light drinkers, one additional person might develop breast cancer.

To evaluate the overall

effects of alcohol on the cancer risk of a population, one must accurately quantify

its effects on various types of tumors. To this end, researchers have performed

comprehensive meta-analyses of published studies investigating the relationship

between alcohol intake and the risk for numerous types of cancer. Meta-analyses

are studies that pool data from several studies, thereby substantially enhancing

the overall number of cases evaluated. This approach allows researchers to detect

relationships that may have been overlooked in the individual studies because

of the relatively small sample size and insufficient statistical power of those

individual studies. This article summarizes the major findings of one such meta-analysis

(Corrao et al. 1999, 2000).

The debate over red wine

To determine American’s knowledge about the link between alcohol and cancer risk. Researchers analyzed data from the 2020 Health Information National Trends Survey, which included survey responses from nearly 4,000 American adults. There’s also a lack of awareness among some health care workers. In a recent study, https://sober-home.org/ 95 percent of family physicians surveyed were aware of the link between alcohol consumption and head and neck cancers, whereas only 40 percent of surveyed dentists were. Globally, the WHO European Region has the highest alcohol consumption level and the highest proportion of drinkers in the population.

Researchers believe alcohol makes the throat more susceptible to the poisons in tobacco smoke. While this change occurs with any amount of alcohol, it’s a bigger problem for heavy drinkers or binge drinkers because the body can’t process the alcohol being consumed fast enough, allowing a buildup of acetaldehyde. If you drink red wine in the hopes that you are protecting your heart health, I would look for other ways to do that. Some studies suggest that there are compounds in red wine that offer cardiovascular benefits. The potential benefits of drinking wine do not outweigh the cancer risk.

New study examines link between alcohol consumption and cancer

Our disease-focused teams design personalized cancer treatment plans for every patient who entrusts their care to us. Heavy drinkers, who down two or three drinks every day, are most likely to get cancer and to die from it. Even if you’re a light drinker (no more than three drinks a week) your chances are still higher than for teetotalers. There’s a level beyond which, if you do it on a regular basis, it’s definitely going to make you a high-risk patient for certain cancer types,” Dr. Vashi says. The study was conducted to determine support for warning labels, advertising bans and other steps to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking.

Whether you are a healthcare provider, a researcher, or just someone who wants to learn more about cancer prevention, we’re here to help. “I, personally—and I think most clinicians feel this way too—would not push them to completely abstain from drinking if they’re drinking socially,” he says. Drinking alcohol may cause other problems for people who already have cancer or are cancer survivors.

The Link Between Drinking Alcohol and Cancer Risk

The exact

role of alcohol in the development of breast cancer remains unclear. It is possible,

however, that for breast cancer and other types of cancer related to disturbances

in female hormone levels, alcohol may act by altering the metabolism and blood

levels of female hormones, such as estrogen (Longnecker 1994). Moreover, a recent

study suggests that the association may be limited to women with a family history

of breast cancer (Vachon et al. 2001). The results of eight appropriate

studies were pooled to determine the relationship between alcohol consumption

and the risk of cancer at all sites combined.

• Most people know that using tobacco products can cause cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat and other parts of the body.
• A New Zealand study has found “strong evidence” that alcohol causes seven types of cancer — oropharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum and breast cancer — and “probably others” such as pancreas, prostate and skin cancer.
• Alcohol consumption rose during the pandemic, with American adults drinking 14% more often in the spring of 2020 versus the same time the previous year, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open in September of 2020.
• Many of those who were listed as abstainers “had to stop drinking because of health problems,” Keyes says.
• The exact

  role of alcohol in the development of breast cancer remains unclear.

Eating enough folate may help protect against the risk of some cancers linked with alcohol, such as breast cancer. Folate is found in leafy green vegetables, fruit, and dried beans and peas. Alcohol consumption is one of the most important known risk factors for human cancer and potentially one of the most avoidable factors, but it is increasing worldwide,” Connor wrote. She also noted that the risks, particularly for cancers of the mouth and throat, increase even more for people who also smoke.