While overall cancer mortality rates are declining, cancer deaths due to alcohol are on the rise.The percentage of deaths attributable to alcohol increased across most cancer types, age groups, and sexes.Only 45% of American adults recognize alcohol as a risk factor for cancer compared with 89% who recognize tobacco as such.
While overall cancer mortality rates have declined steadily over the last few decades, cancer deaths attributed to alcohol have been rising, a population-based observational trend analysis showed.
From 1990 to 2023, alcohol-attributable cancer deaths doubled from 11,361 (age-standardized mortality rate [ASMR] 3.8 per 100,000 population) to 23,126 (ASMR 4.1 per 100,000 population), reported Chinmay T. Jani, MD, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami, and colleagues.
The percentage of deaths attributable to alcohol increased across most cancer types, age groups, and sexes.
"The findings emphasize the need for sustained national efforts to reduce alcohol consumption as a risk factor for cancer mortality," wrote Jani and colleagues in Lancet Regional Health-Americas.
