740,000 Global Cancer Cases in 2020 Caused By Alcohol -Study

A recent study has shown that over 740,000 global cancer cases in 2020 were caused by alcohol consumption.

The study titled, “Global burden of cancer in 2020 attributable to alcohol consumption: a population-based study”, was published in The Lancet Oncology on Tuesday.

According to the study, the intake of alcohol has been linked to different kinds of cancers and in 2020, an estimated 741,300 or 4·1% of all new cases of cancer were attributable to alcohol consumption, with males accounting for 568,700 of these cases.

The study also gave a breakdown of the kinds of cancers attributable to alcohol: 189,700 cases were accounted for cancers of the oesophagus, cancer of the liver had 154,700 cases and breast cancer had 98,300 cases.

“The consumption of alcoholic beverages is causally linked to cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, and oesophagus) and cancers of the colon, rectum, liver, and female breast,” the study revealed.

In the analysis of geographical location, Northern Africa was the least affected with 0.3%. Western Asia had 0.7%, Eastern Asia had 5·7% while Central and Eastern Europe made up 5·6%.

The largest burden of alcohol-attributable cancers was represented by heavy drinking, which accounts for 46·7% of the cases. Risky drinking accounted for 39·4% whereas moderate drinking contributed 13·9%.