Alcohol is a known risk factor for a number of cancers. To calculate the proportion of cancer deaths attributable to alcohol and other risk factors, researchers analyzed systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and data from the World Health Organization.

• Over one third (35 percent) of cancer deaths worldwide were attributable to 9 risk factors: overweight and obesity, low fruit and vegetable intake, physical inactivity, smoking, alcohol use, unsafe sex, urban air pollution, indoor smoke, and contaminated injections.
• Cancer sites affected by alcohol included the mouth and oropharynx, esophagus, liver, and breast.
• Alcohol use was among the top 3 causes of cancer deaths* worldwide (responsible for 4 to 5 percent of cancer deaths).
• Of the 4 cancers that were largely attributable (more than 50 percent of cases) to the risk factors studied, alcohol was a major cause of 2 (mouth and oropharynx, and esophageal cancers).

Comments by Richard Saitz, MD, MPH:

Aggregate data such as these do not inform us about drinking levels associated with specific cancer risks. However, they do tell us that addressing alcohol use can help prevent cancer.

*Attributable to the 9 risk factors studied

Reference:

Danaei G, Vander Hoorn S, Lopez AD, et al. Causes of cancer in the world: comparative risk assessment of nine behavioural and environmental risk factors. Lancet. 2005;366(9499):1784–1793.

Reprinted with permission from Alcohol and Health: Current Evidence.