Alcohol-Related Cancer Deaths Have Doubled in the US Since 1990

A perplexing mystery surrounding the increase in colon cancer cases among younger populations has captured our attention for the past six years. Medical experts have encountered challenges in pinpointing the exact cause, although they have proposed numerous potential factors, including ultraprocessed foods, microplastics, and antibiotics, among others.

A new study—drawing on decades of data from 1990 to 2023 compiled for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 database—has identified at least one key contributor to this troubling rise: alcohol consumption. Researchers from the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine discovered that colorectal cancer ranked as the leading cause of “alcohol-attributable” cancer deaths among men aged 20 to 54 in the United States. For women in the same age bracket, it was the second leading cause of alcohol-related cancer fatalities, following breast cancer.

These findings are just a fraction of the many insights derived from the researchers’ extensive analysis. Overall, they revealed that alcohol-attributable cancer deaths across all categories studied more than doubled over the last thirty years—from approximately 11,400 deaths in 1990 to over 23,100 in 2023, annually.

“The most surprising discovery was the extensive range of alcohol’s potential impact on various cancer types,” stated Chinmay Jani, hematologist and oncologist and the study’s lead author.

“While [alcohol’s] connection to liver cancer is well-known, its role in cancers such as colorectal, esophageal, breast, pancreatic, and prostate cancer is not widely recognized by the public,” Jani pointed out.

Understanding Alcohol as a Leading Carcinogen

Despite its classification as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, alcohol has often eluded public consciousness regarding its cancer risks, especially when compared to more infamous Group 1 carcinogens like tobacco and asbestos.

This lack of awareness prompted U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy—who served under Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden—to advocate for nationwide warning labels on alcohol last year. Unfortunately, there has been little legislative momentum to advance this proposal.

Even moderate alcohol consumption appears to correlate with increased cancer risks, as noted by Jani and his colleagues. Their study underscored previous research indicating that daily intake of just 0.18 to 0.53 ounces (5 to 15 grams) of alcohol is linked to a heightened risk of breast cancer in women—this amount aligns with the government’s definition of one “standard drink.”

Jani pointed out that the study’s specific findings regarding cancer deaths among younger individuals aged 20 to 54 suggest a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and the increase in colorectal cancer cases evident in their data. This observation aligns with other recent studies revealing that nearly half of all new colorectal cancer diagnoses occur in adults under 65. Millennials born around 1990 are now reported to be twice as likely to develop this cancer compared to their Baby Boomer counterparts born around 1950.

What Is the Safe Alcohol Consumption Level for Cancer Risk?

“[While] While the exact lowest safe dose is still unknown, this study indicates that reducing alcohol intake to the minimum feasible level for each individual may help mitigate its impact on cancer risk and overall health,” Jani stated.

Further research will likely be necessary to determine the precise lowest safe dose, especially considering the known limitations of the GBD dataset. As Jani and his colleagues acknowledged in their study, released this September in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas, the database lacks certain patient details, such as race, ethnicity, and other factors that could complicate the relationship between these cancer deaths and overlapping cancer risks. The researchers noted that cancer risks exacerbated by “socioeconomic and structural factors” were particularly obscured within the GBD dataset.

Nonetheless, for the study’s senior author, oncologist Gilberto Lopes, there exists a valuable aspect to utilizing such a vast pool of data even without those specifics.

“This study clearly demonstrates that the risk of alcohol-related cancer is not confined to a single disease or demographic,” Lopes remarked in a statement.