Alcohol Cancer Deaths Have Doubled In 33 Years, Study Finds
A study published September 2 in The Lancet Regional Health, Americas by researchers at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center found that alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the United States more than doubled over 33 years, rising from approximately 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023.
This happened while overall cancer mortality was falling by roughly a third. The proportion of all cancer deaths attributable to alcohol rose 58 percent among adults 20 and older over the same period.
The finding that most surprised researchers was the breadth of alcohol's impact. The cancer deaths are not limited to liver cancer, the most widely recognized connection, but also include colorectal, breast, esophageal, pancreatic, prostate and head and neck cancers. Among men 55 and older, liver cancer accounted for the highest alcohol-linked deaths.
Among women 55 and older, breast cancer led. Among younger adults ages 20 to 54, colorectal cancer has overtaken liver cancer as the top alcohol-attributable killer in both men and women.
One drink per day carries risk. Research shows the threshold begins at as little as 5 to 15 grams of alcohol daily, roughly one standard US drink or less.
The study's lead author Dr. Chinmay Jani said the lowest safe dose is not yet known, but that reducing consumption to the lowest amount feasible for each individual may help. "Alcohol is a modifiable risk factor," his co-author Dr. Gilberto Lopes added.
Alcohol has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization — in the same category as tobacco and asbestos, since 1988.
