Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – As the holiday season draws near the consumption of alcohol is set to rapidly increase. A new study offers an important reminder to consider the long-term health consequences of celebratory drinking. Even moderate alcohol use is known to raise the risk of several types of cancer. Still, drinking is common, and key questions remain about how both how often people drink and how much they consume influence their overall cancer risk.
These risks also vary between different groups, and current alcohol policies rarely highlight the connection between drinking and cancer.
To bridge these gaps, scientists at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine carried out an extensive systematic review to better understand how various drinking patterns — from heavy to moderate to light — affect cancer risk among U.S. adults.
Their analysis encompassed 62 studies with sample sizes varying from 80 individuals to nearly 100 million. The researchers also looked at other health problems that can make the situation worse, like obesity and chronic liver disease, and found social and demographic groups that are more likely to be affected.
The results, which were published in Cancer Epidemiology, show that both how much and how often a person drinks are big factors in their risk of getting cancer, especially breast, colorectal, liver, oral, laryngeal, esophageal, and stomach cancers. Alcohol also makes some diseases worse, like alcoholic liver disease, which is linked to more advanced stages of liver cancer and lower survival rates.
People who consumed more alcohol faced a heightened cancer risk, particularly African Americans, individuals with certain genetic traits, and those living with obesity or diabetes. Additional factors—including race, age, education level, and income—also shaped people’s exposure and susceptibility. As a result, lower-income communities and some racial or ethnic groups were disproportionately impacted, even when their drinking levels were similar to or lower than others.
On the other hand, adhering to the American Cancer Society’s recommendations on alcohol use and overall healthy living was linked to reduced cancer risk and lower mortality, underscoring the value of adopting multiple healthy habits together.
Lea Sacca, Ph.D., senior author and assistant professor of population health at the Schmidt College of Medicine indicated that in the 50 studies they analyzed, increased alcohol intake was consistently connected to higher cancer risk, and the danger rose in step with consumption.
She also stated that many things affect risk, like the kind of alcohol someone drinks, how old they were when they first drank, their gender, race, smoking history, family background, and genetics. Some groups, like older people, people who don’t have a lot of money, and people who already have health problems, are more likely to be affected. Sacca also pointed out that frequent heavy drinking, daily use, or binge drinking strongly correlates with several cancers, reinforcing the need for moderation and adherence to cancer-prevention guidelines.
The study also found that the kind of drink can change the risk in some cases. For example, drinking white wine and beer was linked to a higher risk of some cancers, but drinking spirits didn’t always have the same effect. There were also differences between men and women: men who drank regularly were at a higher risk, while women who drank heavily once in a while were at a higher risk. Smoking raised the risk of cancer related to alcohol even more, but the effect was different for men and women and drinking habits. Other influences included sun exposure—which was tied to melanoma in areas of the body that usually receive little sunlight—and family history, which can heighten the association between alcohol use and cancer.
Across multiple studies, additional contributors to risk included very high or very low body mass index, insufficient exercise, infections known to cause cancer (such as hepatitis B or C, HPV, HIV, or H. pylori), nutritionally poor diets, hormone therapies, and even certain natural hair or eye colors.
“Biologically, alcohol can damage DNA through acetaldehyde, alter hormone levels, trigger oxidative stress, suppress the immune system, and increase carcinogen absorption,” explained Lewis S. Nelson, M.D., who is co-author, dean and chief of health affairs, Schmidt College of Medicine. “These effects are compounded by pre-existing health conditions, lifestyle choices, and genetic predispositions, all of which can accelerate cancer development.”
