In all, 229 studies (183 case-control studies and 46 cohort studies) met the eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. This meta-analysis includes most published information on alcohol and cancer and, the limitations discussed above notwithstanding, consequently provides the most accurate estimates of the RRs for common cancers considered to be alcohol-related. For example, the analysis was unable to identify a threshold level of alcohol consumption below which no increased risk for cancer is evident. Furthermore, this meta-analysis found that the association of alcohol with the risk for oral and pharyngeal cancer appears to be stronger than the association with esophageal or laryngeal cancer across increasing levels of alcohol intake.
Therefore, one cannot draw any conclusions regarding a potential causal role of alcohol in the development of these cancers. To control for this possibility, the investigators included separate analyses for men and women in their statistical models, where feasible. However, gender explained a significant portion of the observed variability in study results only for esophageal and liver cancer, but not for other types of cancers. Another limitation of this and other meta-analyses is that alcohol consumption levels may have been systematically underreported in several studies, leading to biased RR estimates. To evaluate the overall effects of alcohol on the cancer risk of a population, one must accurately quantify its effects on various types of tumors.
The conclusion that alcohol consumption carries significant health risks is backed by systematic reviews as well as meta-analyses focused on the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of death from any cause. “We’ve known about this connection for more than 30 years; this is not our first What is Alcohol Withdrawal conversation on the topic,” she said. Indeed, WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer first classified alcoholic beverages as carcinogenic in 1987.
What types of cancer can be caused by drinking alcohol?
I am currently co-leading a project funded by an R01 grant from the National Institute of Health that aims to reduce heavy alcohol use among active-duty Air Force airmen. We have created a text-messaging program that’s being delivered to airmen who are just starting their job training in the Air Force to try and reduce binge and heavy drinking. We don’t know yet if it works, but there are possible opportunities to use apps or text messaging tools to help people change their alcohol behaviors. A. We were some of the first to look at awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer in the United States in 2019 and found that awareness was quite low at the time of that study. Thirty-eight percent of the U.S. population believed there was an association, 36% were uncertain, and 25% believed there was no association. We’ve been able to use data like this from the Health Information National Trends Survey to really start to build our understanding of how the population thinks about alcohol.
And not only do women usually experience the immediate effects of alcohol more quickly than men, but they are also at a higher risk for alcohol’s long-term health effects. “The important thing to remember is that every time you drink, you increase your cancer risk. MD Anderson’s official guidance is that for cancer prevention, it’s best not to drink alcohol.
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- For those looking to lower their alcohol-use-related cancer risk, Bilchik said a person’s biological sex and metabolism may play a role in this equation, too.
- But despite the significant personal and professional costs of working in an environment where their credibility is constantly questioned, researchers and advocates persevere.
- The curves shown here were obtained by fitting certain statistical models to the data from several studies (i.e., a meta-analysis).
- In people who produce the defective enzyme, acetaldehyde builds up when they drink alcohol.
- Several mechanisms have been postulated through which alcohol may contribute to an increased risk of cancer.
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Legal threats and challenges, complaints to individuals, their employers and governing bodies, also featured in both the tobacco and food sectors. Such methods can be used to stop researchers from publicizing their findings, and to stop advocates from pushing for public health interventions that would reduce tobacco use and sugar consumption. A. For those looking to gauge how their alcohol behaviors could correlate to health outcomes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a great tool called Check Your Drinking. You input information about yourself and your alcohol behaviors, and it gives you personalized feedback. That might be helpful for people going into the holidays wondering how their alcohol use compares to averages. Further research into the mechanisms of alcohol’s effect on cancer risk could increase understanding of other factors that may interact with alcohol to increase cancer risk.
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Binge drinking—consuming five or more drinks within a few hours for men or four for women—is also likely more dangerous than any other type of drinking, Dr. Abnet explained. But studies have only begun to look at the associations between binge drinking and cancer, he added. Using blood tests to get a more accurate estimate of true alcohol consumption could also benefit future research, wrote Amy Justice, M.D., Ph.D., of Yale University, in an accompanying editorial. “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.