Health. Even in small doses, alcohol is a major cause of cancer.

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of at least seven types of cancer. In 2020, 741,000 new cases were attributable to it worldwide, representing 4% of all diagnoses. Men are particularly affected, accounting for 78% of cases. The most common alcohol-related cancers are:

• esophageal cancer (190,000 cases);
• liver cancer (155,000 cases);
• breast cancer in women (98,000 cases).

A risk, even at low doses

Among all these new cases, "risky" consumption (i.e. 2 to 6 glasses of alcohol per day) and "excessive" consumption (more than 6 glasses of alcohol per day) represented the majority of cases.

But contrary to popular belief, even moderate consumption (less than 2 drinks per day, which corresponds to current recommendations) caused more than 100,000 new cases of cancer worldwide in 2020.

"No alcohol consumption is completely risk-free," summarizes Dr. Harriet Rumgay, a researcher in the Cancer Surveillance branch of the IARC, quoted in a press release published on October 8.

A largely underestimated danger

Despite growing public health concerns, alcohol consumption continues to increase in several regions of the world, including the Americas, the Western Pacific, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.

But consumption is currently highest in Europe, "where awareness remains low," warns the IARC. "Less than half of the population knows that alcohol can cause cancer."

Yet in 2023, a group of IARC experts evaluated the available data and concluded that reducing or stopping alcohol consumption reduces the risk of oral and esophageal cancer. The risk decreases with the duration of withdrawal.

Prevention works

So how can we help people reduce their consumption? Experts recommend several measures, such as setting minimum selling prices, raising the legal minimum purchasing age, or increasing taxes. Regarding the latter measure, a recent IARC study showed that doubling taxes could prevent 6% of new cases of alcohol-related cancer in Europe, primarily breast and colorectal cancer.