Alcohol and cancer death risk

A study led by researchers at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, published in The Lancet Regional Health -- Americas and presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting, found that annual US cancer deaths attributable to alcohol more than doubled over three decades, rising from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023, based on more than 30 years of Global Burden of Disease data. While alcohol's link to liver cancer is well established and it has long been classified a Group 1 carcinogen, researchers said its contribution to colorectal, esophageal, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancers remains far less understood by the public. Older adults and men bore the highest overall burden, with liver cancer the leading alcohol-related cause of death among older men, followed by esophageal and colorectal cancers, while breast cancer was the top cause among women overall.

Among younger adults aged 20-54, colorectal cancer emerged as the leading cause of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in men and the second-leading cause in women, surpassing liver cancer in both groups -- a pattern researchers called one of the study's most striking findings. Study authors Chinmay Jani and Gilberto Lopes said the results underscore that alcohol is a modifiable cancer risk factor not confined to any single disease or demographic, and that no minimum 'safe' drinking level has been established; they noted the study's reliance on national rather than individual-level data means it can show a strong association between alcohol and cancer deaths but cannot prove direct causation or pinpoint an exact safe threshold.