AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The surgeon general has a new warning about the cancer risks of consuming alcohol, which contributes to about a hundred thousand cancer cases per year. As NPR's Allison Aubrey reports, there's growing evidence that drinking alcohol increases the risks of at least seven types of cancer.
ALLISON AUBREY, BYLINE: If you're in the habit of drinking wine, beer or a cocktail, you're in good company. Dry January aside, what the data shows is that more than two-thirds of adults in the U.S. report having at least one drink or more per week. But Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says what many people don't realize is that alcohol consumption can increase the risk of breast and colorectal cancer, as well as cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and liver.
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VIVEK MURTHY: The science has been building for years, creating greater and greater certainty about more and more types of cancer. But what is clear is that while people know, for example, about the link between tobacco and cancer, less than half of people in America know that alcohol is, in fact, connected to cancer risk.
AUBREY: The report concludes alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer, behind tobacco use and obesity. Back in 2020, a coalition of health advocacy groups petitioned the U.S. government to adopt a cancer warning label on alcoholic beverages, and Murthy says he'd like to see Congress act on this, adding cancer to the existing warnings about drinking during pregnancy and while operating a car or heavy machinery. But Murthy says what is not clear is the amount of alcohol that may increase a person's risk.
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MURTHY: The exact level that's a right for each individual does depend on their own risk of cancer based on their genetics, their family history, environmental exposures.
AUBREY: The more you drink, the higher your risk. And in Canada, the guidelines advise people that three to six drinks per week can increase the risk of breast and colon cancer. Dr. Jamie Koprivnikar is an oncologist at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey.
JAMIE KOPRIVNIKAR: In dealing with cancer patients, we really know, particularly in patients who have a history of breast cancer, really, continued alcohol use is a major risk for breast cancer recurrence.
AUBREY: As the body metabolizes alcohol, a compound called acetaldehyde is produced, which is a probable carcinogen. Dr. Koprivnikar says this is one of the mechanisms linking alcohol to cancer. She says many of her patients ask her if there's a safe amount to consume.
KOPRIVNIKAR: I think the safest amount of alcohol is completely abstaining.
AUBREY: The current U.S. guidelines recommend no more than one drink a day for women, two for men. There's an assessment underway now to determine whether this guidance should be revised.
Allison Aubrey, NPR News.
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