Rise in Alcohol-Related Cancer Deaths in the US
Alcohol-related cancer fatalities in the United States have more than doubled over the last thirty years. New research indicates that even a single daily drink can elevate the risk of developing cancer, with the consequences affecting various types beyond just liver cancer.
Researchers from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, associated with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, examined over three decades of data from the Global Burden of Disease. Their findings, released in August in the Lancet Regional Health, reveal that the number of annual cancer deaths linked to alcohol rose drastically from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023.
The study connects alcohol intake to a heightened risk of mortality from several cancers, including breast, prostate, colon, rectal, stomach, pancreatic, and liver cancers, as well as cancers affecting the head and neck.
Older men seem to be most impacted, although an increase was observed across different cancer types, age categories, and geographical areas.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer categorizes alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen—this includes notorious substances like tobacco smoke and asbestos.
Moreover, research suggests that even low levels of alcohol consumption can heighten cancer risk. Specifically, an intake of just 5 to 15 grams daily has been linked to an increased chance of developing cancer. Since a “standard drink” in the US contains 14 grams of pure alcohol, having just one drink each day could potentially raise cancer risk.
The National Cancer Institute notes that alcohol may contribute to cancer development in various ways. They estimated that alcohol was responsible for approximately 5% of nearly 1.8 million cancer diagnoses in the US in 2019— accounting for about 100,000 cases. In that same year, it was linked to around 25,000 deaths, which constituted about 4% of the nearly 600,000 cancer-related deaths nationwide.
The study highlighted a particularly severe effect on older men, pointing out that the alcohol-related cancer mortality rate for males aged 55 and up increased by nearly 24% over the 33-year span.
Liver cancer was most strongly associated with alcohol among men, followed by esophageal and colorectal cancers. For women aged 55 and older, breast cancer was the primary alcohol-related cancer killer, trailed by liver and colorectal cancers.
Earlier last year, then-surgeon general Vivek Murthy emphasized that alcohol consumption was the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, ranking behind tobacco and obesity. He urged for warning labels on alcoholic beverages to inform consumers about the cancer risks.
