The study also found that people who believed drinking alcohol increased the risk of heart disease were more aware of the alcohol–cancer risk than those who were unsure or believed drinking lowered the effect on heart risk. There has been a marked increase in alcohol consumption in low- and middle-income countries over the last decade. From 2010 to 2017, India recorded a 38 per cent increase in per capita alcohol consumption7. Consumption of country liquor predominates in rural areas, whereas Indian-made foreign liquor is the preferred alcoholic beverage in urban areas. Country liquor is known by various names such as desi daru, tharra, toddy, tari and arrack and contains about 33 per cent (w/v) ethanol8.
What is the evidence that alcohol drinking can cause cancer?
For example, instead of including all types of liver cancer, “they focused on hepatocellular carcinoma, the type of liver cancer that’s linked to alcohol,” he said. Overall, about 12,000 people in this group reported that they drink alcohol, and nearly 40% reported engaging in hazardous drinking—that is, repeated excessive alcohol use. Of those who may have been actively undergoing treatment for cancer, about 75% drank alcohol, many heavily. The study team used DNA samples from approximately 150,000 participants (roughly 60,000 men and 90,000 women) in the China Kadoorie Biobank study and measured the frequency of the low-alcohol tolerability alleles for ALDH2 and ADH1B. The data were combined with questionnaires about drinking habits completed by participants at recruitment and subsequent follow-up visits. The participants were tracked for a median period of 11 years through linkage to health insurance records and death registers.
Alcohol can also have more subtle cancer-promoting effects, including impairing the body’s ability to metabolize and absorb a xanax for sleep vs ambien variety of nutrients it needs to prevent cancer. It can also increase blood levels of estrogen, a sex hormone linked to breast cancer, and make the carcinogens found in tobacco smoke easier for the body to absorb. Researchers have explored trends over earlier time periods in previous studies and found similar associations. While alcohol consumption is declining in some areas of the world, such as parts of Europe, it’s on the rise in other areas, including China, India, and many sub-Saharan African nations. Given the study’s findings, “there’s also a need to better understand why so many cancer survivors have such high alcohol consumption,” she continued. Binge drinking was most common among men, people under the age of 50, and former and current smokers.
On the other hand, economic growth in places like China, India and Vietnam might lead to increased alcohol use and related cancers down the road. The lowest rates of alcohol-related cancers in the world were found in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, where religious-based policies ensure low rates of drinking. Public health campaigns about the cancer risk posed by alcohol in England and Australia have been effective at raising awareness with their target audiences. The COVID-19 pandemic also appears to have caused a spike in drinking among women in the United States and elsewhere, explained Dr. LoConte.
Drinking Alcohol, Often Heavily, Common among People with Cancer and Long-Term Survivors
The goal of such research isn’t to scare people who drink alcohol, said Dr. LoConte. I think there is a chunk of society that, if they knew [about the risk], would drink differently,” she said. Overall, eastern Asia and central and eastern Europe had the highest proportions of cancer cases attributed to alcohol consumption, and northern Africa and western Asia had the lowest. Trends for women differed slightly, with the highest proportions of cancer cases attributed to alcohol consumption found in central, eastern, and western Europe; Australia; and New Zealand.
That’s an additional 185,000 possible alcohol-related cancers, or 5% of all the world’s cancers. Nearly 4% of cancers diagnosed worldwide in 2020 can be attributed to alcohol consumption, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States alone, about 75,000 cancer cases and 19,000 cancer deaths are estimated to be linked to alcohol each year. Similarly, for esophageal cancer, the researchers zeroed in on a type called squamous cell carcinoma, which is the only type known to be triggered by alcohol consumption. “This may make the estimates of alcohol-related cancers lower than previous studies, but they’re more precise,” said Dr. Abnet. Nearly 750,000 cases of cancer diagnosed worldwide in 2020, or 4%, can be attributed to alcohol consumption, according to a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO).
thoughts on “What You Should Know About Alcohol Consumption and Cancer Risk ”
A previous headline for this story on the NPR homepage incorrectly said 34 million cancer cases had been linked to alcohol use in 2020. Those strategies could include increasing taxes on alcohol and adding cancer warning labels to alcohol similar to warnings now on cigarette packages. Drinking rates are relatively low in parts of Africa, but that seems to be changing. Alcohol also reduces the body’s ability to absorb certain cancer-protective nutrients, including vitamins A, C, D, E and folate. “Fewer than one in three Americans recognize alcohol as a cause of cancer,” says Harriet Rumgay, researcher at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization.
And for longer-term cancer survivors, there is some evidence that regular alcohol use may increase the chances of their cancer returning. The study confirmed that most American adults aren’t aware of the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. It also found that, even among those who are aware, there’s a belief that it varies by the type of alcohol. For example, more participants were aware of the cancer risks from hard liquor and beer than about the risk from wine, with some participants believing wine lowers your cancer risk.
The public is largely unaware of the link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. It is important to continue studying cancers linked to alcohol, as patterns of alcohol use continue alcohol intolerance covid to shift over time, Dr. Abnet said. For example, in many parts of the world, women have begun drinking more than they used to, he explained. And, he added, if drinking rises within a group, their cancer cases are eventually likely to rise as well.
The WHO researchers also created an interactive website where people can explore the results by country, cancer site, and other variables. “I try to normalize pink cocaine tusi asking [patients] things like, if they’re drinking, how much and how they feel it affects them,” she explained. New data from a large-scale genetic study led by Oxford Population Health confirms that alcohol directly causes cancer.
“The sooner we start accurately measuring alcohol exposure, the sooner we can understand the true excess burden of cancer attributable to alcohol and effectively intervene,” Dr. Justice wrote. The processes that the body uses to break down alcohol produce a compound called acetaldehyde, a toxin that several organizations have classified as a probable cause of cancer in people. At the moment, however, proven ways to help people with cancer limit drinking during or after completing treatment are extremely limited, Dr. DuVall said. More research is needed to better understand alcohol use among people with cancer, the study team wrote.
- Alcohol use while receiving cancer therapy can be especially taxing on the liver, burdening it with removing the toxic compounds in alcohol as well as in cancer drugs.
- If findings of alcohol’s impact on cancer risk have yet to deter many people from drinking, it may be because most people aren’t aware of them.
- “The high prevalence of cancer survivors engaged in hazardous drinking highlights the need for immediate interventions,” they wrote.
- New data from a large-scale genetic study led by Oxford Population Health confirms that alcohol directly causes cancer.
- Ethanol also has immunomodulatory properties and evidence suggests that it may modify innate immune responses by affecting antigen recognition and intracellular signalling18.
The amount of acetaldehyde generated depends on the activity of ethanol-metabolizing enzymes, namely alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)14. Due to genetic polymorphism, ALDH2 has extremely low activity in per cent of Asians, which increases the risk of alcohol-related cancers. The oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde by the alternate microsomal CYP2E1 pathway leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species and mediates DNA damage by lipid peroxidation and DNA adduct formation14,15. These include activation of oncogenes and inhibition of tumour suppressor genes by aberrant DNA methylation16.
While heavy drinking accounted for the most cases, light and moderate drinking accounted for more than 100,000 of those cases, the study found. Of the participants with a history of cancer, nearly 1,800 were in active treatment for cancer at the time they completed the initial survey. Of that group, nearly 25% reported binge drinking and 38% reported hazardous drinking.
In the study, many people being treated for cancer and longer-term cancer survivors reported regularly drinking alcohol—many moderately, but some also heavily and often. According to the study’s findings, male long-term survivors and younger people being treated for cancer were among those who were particularly likely to be heavy or frequent drinkers. For people being treated for cancer, regularly consuming a few beers or cocktails also has other potentially harmful consequences, including making their treatments less effective.
The plant secondary compound resveratrol, found in grapes used to make red wine and some other plants, has been investigated for many possible health effects, including cancer prevention. However, researchers have found no association between moderate consumption of red wine and the risk of developing prostate cancer (32) or colorectal cancer (33). According to the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025, individuals who do not drink alcohol should not start drinking for any reason.
