Share of US Cancer Deaths Tied to Alcohol Rose 58% Over 33 Years, Study Says
A new study reported by CNN found that the proportion of US cancer deaths linked to alcohol rose more than 58% from 1990 to 2023, even as overall cancer mortality declined.
The study, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, analyzed US data from the Global Burden of Disease Study between 1990 and 2023. During that period, the annual number of alcohol-related cancer deaths more than doubled from 11,361 to 23,126, said the study’s first author, Dr. Chinmay Jani. Men and adults aged 55 and older were the most affected, with the alcohol-related cancer mortality rate among older men climbing by nearly 24%. The analysis drew on the Global Burden of Disease Study, an international effort that measures health loss from hundreds of diseases in more than 200 countries and territories.
Jani said that even a modest intake — about one standard drink a day, every day — raised the risk. For men, liver cancer showed the strongest link to alcohol, followed by esophageal and colorectal cancers; for women 55 and older, breast cancer was the leading cause, followed by liver and colorectal cancers.
According to the National Cancer Institute, alcohol is broken down by the liver into acetaldehyde, a probable human carcinogen that can damage DNA and interfere with DNA repair before it is converted into acetate. Alcohol also contributes to oxidative stress, weakens cells in the mouth and throat, and interferes with the absorption of nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D, E and folates, which are thought to lower cancer risk.