Alcohol consumption is a major contributor to cancer across Europe, according to a new report from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) cancer research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The agency warns that stronger government policies to reduce drinking could prevent thousands of cancer cases and deaths every year.
The European Union, which has the highest alcohol consumption in the world, recorded more than 111,000 new cancer cases in 2020 linked to alcohol use. Globally, alcohol was responsible for an estimated 741,000 cancer cases, with men accounting for nearly 70% of them.
Beyond the human toll, the financial burden is also considerable. In 2018, premature deaths caused by alcohol-related cancers cost the European region approximately €4.58 billion, according to WHO data.
“The WHO European Region, and especially EU countries, are paying too high a price for alcohol in preventable cancers, broken families, and massive costs to taxpayers,” said Dr. Gundo Weiler, who leads prevention and health promotion at WHO Europe. “Some call alcohol a ‘cultural heritage,’ but disease, death, and disability should not be normalized as part of European culture,” he added.
Alcohol’s Link to Cancer
IARC classified alcohol as a carcinogen in 1988. Research shows that alcohol increases the risk of at least seven types of cancer, including cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectum, and breast.
Alcohol can trigger cancer through several biological pathways — by altering hormone levels, changing the gut microbiome, and causing DNA damage through oxidative stress and acetaldehyde, a toxic byproduct of alcohol metabolism.
Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption significantly lowers the risk of developing these cancers. Most alcohol-related cancers are tied to “risky” (two to six drinks per day) or “heavy” (more than six drinks per day) drinking. However, even “moderate” drinking — fewer than two drinks daily — accounted for over 100,000 new cancer cases worldwide in 2020.
Policy Measures to Reduce Risk
The IARC report highlights, for the first time, the potential benefits of large-scale alcohol reduction strategies. “This analysis leaves no doubt that population-wide alcohol policies lower drinking rates and, consequently, cancer risk,” said IARC Director Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass.
Recommended measures include higher taxes and minimum pricing, raising the legal drinking age, reducing the number of alcohol outlets, limiting sales hours or days, banning alcohol advertising, and introducing government-controlled sales systems.
Such policies have been shown to work. A 2021 study found that doubling alcohol excise taxes could have prevented 6% of new alcohol-related cancer cases and deaths in 2019 across the WHO European region.
“Raising awareness about the cancer risks of alcohol — and that no level of drinking is safe — is essential,” said Dr. Béatrice Lauby-Secretan, deputy head of IARC’s evidence synthesis and classification branch. “Everyone has a role to play in changing the norms and values surrounding alcohol consumption.”
