Global burden of cancer in 2020 attributable to alcohol consumption: a population-based study

Publication date: July 13, 2021 DOI: https : //doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00279-5

Commentary

This study will prove a causal link between alcohol use and multiple cancers and investigate how much of an impact it has.

A population-based study, the Population Attributable Factor (PAF) (alcohol consumption and cancer diagnosis) calculated using the theoretical minimum risk exposure for lifetime abstinence and 2010 alcohol consumption estimates from the Global Information System on Alcohol and Health, as part of the WCRF Continuous Update project. The PAFs, combined with corresponding relative risk estimates from a systematic literature review as part of the WCRF Continuous Update Project, were applied to the GLOBOCAN 2020 cancer incidence data to estimate new cancer cases attributable to alcohol.

As a result, an estimated 741300 (95% UI 558 500-951 200), 4.1% (3.1-5.3) of new cancer cases in 2020 worldwide were stated to be attributable to alcohol consumption.

In males, esophageal and liver cancers accounted for 568700 of all cases of cancer attributable to alcohol, while breast cancer contributed the most cases in females.

The findings underscore the need for effective policies and interventions to raise awareness of the cancer risks associated with alcohol use and to reduce overall alcohol consumption to prevent the burden of alcohol-related cancers. Since this is only a study of the relationship between alcohol consumption and the number of cancer cases, caution should be exercised in interpretation.