Surgeon General Warns of Increased Cancer Risk Tied to Alcohol Consumption

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has released a “new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk.”

Alcohol consumption is the “third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the past four decades, less than half of Americans recognize it as a risk factor for cancer.”

According to Murthy, alcohol is “responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S.” The direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk is “well-established for at least seven types of cancer.”

In the U.S. alone, there are “about 100,000 alcohol-related cancer cases and about 20,000 alcohol-related cancer deaths annually. Cancer risk increases as alcohol consumption increases. For certain cancers, like breast, mouth, and throat cancers, evidence shows that the risk of developing cancer may start to increase around one or fewer drinks per day.”

The Advisory recommends that an update be made to the Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverage to “now include cancer risk.” It also “calls for a reassessment of the guideline limits for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk, and it advises individuals to be aware of the relationship between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk when considering whether or how much to drink.”