Alcohol & Cancer Risk: The Surgeon General’s Latest Warning

It may shock you to learn that alcohol is linked to several different types of cancers. 

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy aims to make people more aware of the risks of drinking—in January 2025, Dr. Murthy called on Congress to update the warning labels on alcohol packaging. He released an advisory report that can be viewed here.

The current warnings on alcohol labels call out the risks to pregnancy and impaired driving, but Dr. Murthy estimates that less than half of Americans are aware of the risks for cancer.

“The science has been building for years, creating greater and greater certainty about more and more types of cancer,” Dr. Murthy told NPR’s Steve Inskeep.

What types of cancer are associated with drinking alcohol? And what can you do to protect yourself? 

What Cancers Are Linked to Drinking Alcohol?

According to Dr. Murthy’s interview on NPR, there are at least seven cancers linked to alcohol consumption: 

• breast cancer

• colorectal cancer 

• cancer of the esophagus

• liver cancer 

• mouth cancer 

• throat cancer

• cancer of the voice box (larynx)

Dr. Murthy’s office outlines the specific ways alcohol causes cancer here. He also calls alcohol use “a leading preventable cause of cancer” in his advisory report.

How Can You Prevent Alcohol-Related Cancers?

Dr. Murthy stresses that “cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol.” However, even moderate drinkers are at risk. The current CDC guidelines for alcohol define moderate drinking as “having one drink or less in a day for women, or two drinks or less in a day for men.” 

Dr. Murthy’s advisory challenges this idea and calls for a reevaluation of the recommended limits.

We may not see the new labels roll out right away—Congress must act to make those changes. Even without a label, there are steps individuals can take to lower their risk.

The best way to prevent alcohol-related cancers is to abstain from drinking alcohol or keep your intake as low as possible. Any amount of alcohol comes with a risk.

If you have questions or need help moderating your alcohol use, contact LEAF at (607) 432-0090.

Sources:

CDC. “Alcohol Use and Your Health.” December 12, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/about-alcohol-use/index.html.

Guevara, Milton. “The U.S. Surgeon General Wants Cancer Warnings on Alcohol. Here’s Why.” NPR, January 3, 2025, sec. Health. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/03/nx-s1-5245794/alcohol-cancer-risk-surgeon-general.

Rabin, Roni Caryn. “Surgeon General Calls for Cancer Warnings on Alcohol.” The New York Times, January 3, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/health/alcohol-surgeon-general-warning.html.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General. “Alcohol and Cancer Risk,” n.d. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/alcohol-cancer/index.html.