Doctors warn of big and concerning rise of alcohol-related cancer deaths in the US whos been hit worst

A shocking new study finds the number of alcohol-related deaths in the US has nearly doubled in the last two decades.This is the first study to look at long-term trends in alcohol-linked cancer deaths across the country and was led by a team from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.But not every demographic has been hit equally.Alcohol — classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer — is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity.Earlier this year, the former US Surgeon General, calling for a warning label to be placed on alcoholic products, issued an advisory cautioning Americans of the strong link between alcohol consumption and an increased risk for “at least seven types of cancer,” including breast, colon and liver.In this new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers used data from the Global Burden of Disease database to understand how alcohol use contributes to cancer-related deaths.Their research revealed that in the U.S.

between 1990 and 2021, the total number of alcohol-related cancer deaths nearly doubled, from just under 12,000 deaths per year to just over 23,000.“That’s a big and concerning rise.

We need to increase awareness of this link among the general population and even in the medical field,” said Sylvester hematology and oncology fellow Dr.Chinmay Jani, who led the study.Jani noted that while there is widespread awareness about the relationship between tobacco and increased cancer risk, there is less recognition of the link between alcohol and cancer.A 2024 report by the American Association for Cancer Research found that while more than 5% of all cancer cases are caused by drinking alcohol, 51% of Americans are not aware that alcohol increases cancer risk.Researchers reviewed total cancer deaths, as well as those linked to alcohol consumption: br...