Alcohol consumption. A leading risk factor for cancer

Jürgen Rehm; Kevin D Shield; Elisabete Weiderpass

doi:10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109280

Alcohol consumption. A leading risk factor for cancer

Chem Biol Interact. 2020 Nov 1:331:109280. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109280. Epub 2020 Oct 1.

Authors

Jürgen Rehm¹, Kevin D Shield², Elisabete Weiderpass³

Affiliations

¹ WHO Collaboration Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada; Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, 6th floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Circle, Room 2374, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada; Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, 8th floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada; Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy & Center of Clinical Epidemiology and Longitudinal Studies (CELOS), Technische Universität Dresden, Chemnitzer Str. 46, 01187, Dresden, Germany.
² WHO Collaboration Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada; Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 33 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S1, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, 6th floor, Toronto, ON, M5T 3M7, Canada.
³ International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372, CEDEX 8, Lyon, France. Electronic address: Director@iarc.fr.

PMID: 33010221
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2020.109280

Abstract

In 2016, alcohol consumption was one of the leading risk factors for cancer development and cancer death globally, causing an estimated 376 200 cancer deaths, representing 4.2% of all cancer deaths, and 10.3 million cancer disability-adjusted life years lost, representing 4.2% of all cancer disability-adjusted life years lost. The impact of alcohol consumption on cancer in 2016 varied by age group; the proportion of cancer deaths attributable to alcohol consumption ranged from 13.9% of cancer deaths among people aged 30-34 years to 2.7% of cancer deaths among people aged 80-84 years. The burden of cancers caused by alcohol consumption might be decreased through (i) individual-level and societal-level interventions that reduce alcohol consumption, and (ii) measures that target those risk factors that interact with alcohol consumption to increase the risk of cancer or that directly affect the risk of alcohol-related cancers.

Keywords: Alcohol consumption; Cancer burden; Prevention; Risk factor.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Alcohol Drinking*
Global Burden of Disease
Humans
Neoplasms / diagnosis
Neoplasms / pathology*
Quality-Adjusted Life Years
Risk Factors

Grants and funding

001/WHO_/World Health Organization/International