Today, United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk, outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity, increasing risk for at least seven types of cancer. While scientific evidence for this connection has been growing over the past four decades, less than half of Americans recognize it as a risk factor for cancer.
The Surgeon General’s Advisory includes a series of recommendations to increase awareness to help minimize alcohol-related cancer cases and deaths, including updating the existing Surgeon General’s health warning label on alcohol-containing beverages.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States – greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. – yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” said U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. “This Advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”
