The number of Americans dying from cancers linked to alcohol use more than doubled over the past three decades, according to a new study led by researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths rose from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023, based on more than 30 years of data from the Global Burden of Disease study. The findings were published in The Lancet Regional Health — Americas and presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Alcohol has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer for years, but researchers say most people still don’t associate drinking with cancer risk the way they do with smoking.
“The most surprising finding was the breadth of alcohol’s potential impact across cancer types,” said Chinmay Jani, M.D., corresponding author of the study and chief fellow in hematology and oncology at Sylvester. “Although its relationship with liver cancer is widely recognized, its contribution to cancers such as colorectal, esophageal, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer is less understood by the public.”
Who’s most affected
Older adults and men carried the heaviest overall burden of alcohol-related cancer deaths, the study found. Among older men, liver cancer was the leading cause, followed by esophageal and colorectal cancers. Among women overall, breast cancer was the top cause of alcohol-related cancer deaths.
A notable shift showed up among younger adults, ages 20 to 54. In that group, colorectal cancer became the leading cause of alcohol-attributable cancer deaths among men and the second-leading cause among women, overtaking liver cancer in both.
Researchers say that pattern matters because public awareness of alcohol’s cancer risks still lags well behind awareness of tobacco’s dangers.
What the study can and can’t show
Because the research relied on existing national data rather than tracking individuals over time, the team could not pin down exact drinking habits for each person or fully account for other lifestyle factors. That means the study shows a strong association between alcohol and cancer deaths, but it doesn’t prove alcohol directly caused them, and it doesn’t establish a specific
