“Alcohol consumption causes a substantial burden of cancer globally,” said Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, Deputy Branch Head, Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC. “Yet the impact on cancers is often unknown or overlooked, highlighting the need for implementation of effective policy and interventions to increase public awareness of the link between alcohol use and cancer risk, and decrease overall alcohol consumption to prevent the burden of alcohol-attributable cancers.”
Dr. Leslie Buckley, CAMH Chief of Addictions, added: “In our clinic we are seeing many people who report increased alcohol use since the onset of the pandemic. Although this may be related to temporary stressors, there is a potential for new habits to become more permanent. The consequences with alcohol use are often subtle harms initially that take time to show themselves, while long-term consequences such as cancer, liver disease and substance use disorder can be devastating.”
The modelling study was based on data on alcohol exposure from almost all countries of the world, both surveys and sales figures, which were combined with the latest relative risk estimates for cancer based on level of consumption.
“Alcohol causes cancer in numerous ways,” explained Dr. Kevin Shield, Independent Scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, and study co-author. “The main mechanism of how alcohol causes cancer is through impairing DNA repair. Additional pathways include chronic alcohol consumption resulting in liver cirrhosis, and alcohol leading to a dysregulation of sex hormones, leading to breast cancer. Alcohol also increases the risk of head and neck cancer for smokers as it increases the absorption of carcinogens from tobacco.”
Dr. Rehm says research into the link between light to moderate drinking and cancer is relatively new and that public policy does not yet reflect the degree of cancer risk. He added, “As an epidemiologist, I would recommend higher taxes to fully reflect the burden of disease from alcohol. Along with limiting the physical availability and marketing of alcohol, price controls are recognized as high-impact, cost-effective measures to reduce alcohol-related harm.” Governments can also consider requiring manufacturers to include information about health and safety risks associated with alcohol consumption, including cancer risk, on alcoholic beverage labels.
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