In fact, any level of alcohol use increases the risk for several types of cancer, including colorectal cancer (affecting the large intestine and rectum) and breast cancer.
In January the United States’ Office of the Surgeon General, the country’s leading public health agency, recommended that warnings about alcohol’s cancer risks should be displayed on drink packaging.
Consuming any type of alcohol – beer, wine, or spirits – increases the risk for at least seven types of cancer, including cancers of the breast for women, colorectum, esophagus, liver, mouth, throat, and voice box (larynx).
The evidence has strengthened, showing that alcohol plays a clear, causal role in increasing cancer risk and other serious health problems, as well as all-cause mortality.
Since 2017 alcohol producers in South Korea have had to choose between three compulsory warning labels – two of which warn of cancer risks.
