# Alcohol-attributable cancer

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/alcohol-attributable-cancer/  
OnCo record `alcohol-attributable-cancer` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The share of cancers caused by drinking: about 4% of all new cancers worldwide, roughly 740,000 a year, of which a meaningful fraction come from light and moderate drinking.

## Summary

IARC Group 1 causal sites: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus (squamous), liver, colorectum and female breast; evidence is growing for stomach and pancreas. The 2020 global estimate (Lancet Oncology 2021) attributed 741,300 cancers to alcohol, 77% in men, with about 100,000 from drinking under two drinks a day. There is no threshold for breast cancer. Public awareness of the link is low, which underpins the case for cancer warning labels.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Also known as: Alcohol-related cancer; alcohol-attributable cancers; Population attributable fraction (alcohol)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_and_cancer
- Rumgay et al. (Lancet Oncol 2021): https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00279-5

## Connected records

- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/), [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/), [Hepatocellular carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/hcc/), [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/), [Oesophageal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/esophageal/)
- technologies: [Alcohol reduction, pricing and cancer warning labels](https://onco.cc/technologies/alcohol-reduction-labelling/)
- institutions: [International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC / WHO)](https://onco.cc/institutions/iarc/)
- bottlenecks: [Misinformation and unproven therapies](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/), [Prevention we already have is not deployed](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-prevention-adoption/)
- ideas: [Evaluate alcohol minimum unit pricing against cancer incidence](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-nl-alcohol-minimum-pricing-cancer-endpoints/)
- terms: [Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act 2009](https://onco.cc/terms/tobacco-control-act/), [Risk factor](https://onco.cc/terms/risk-factor/), [Tobacco 21](https://onco.cc/terms/tobacco-21/)

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