A new report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has found people who stop drinking alcohol can lower their risk of developing certain cancers – including oral cancer, larynx cancer, oesophageal cancer, colorectal cancer and female breast cancer.
IARC researchers, whose study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined data from over 90 studies about cancers caused by alcohol and stopping alcohol consumption and discovered cessation especially decreases the risk of cancers that affect the mouth and oesophagus.
Researcher Dr Beatrice Lauby-Secretan noted the reduced risks of oral and oesophageal cancer applied ‘even after adjusting for tobacco smoking and for the amount of alcohol consumed’.
In its report IARC (an agency of the World Health Organisation headquartered in Lyon, France) also noted acetaldehyde – produced by the liver when it metabolises alcohol – is what ‘causes the damage’, and decreasing alcohol intake decreases production of acetaldehyde in the body, which in turn reduces the risk of certain cancers.
Dr Lauby-Secretan said the IARC team also concluded ‘there is sufficient evidence from mechanistic studies that cessation of alcohol consumption reduces alcohol- related carcinogenesis.
‘This conclusion is based on strong evidence on the reversal of three alcohol-related mechanistic pathways upon cessation: Those involving acetaldehyde metabolism, genotoxicity (such as DNA damage), and the immune and inflammatory systems (affecting intestinal permeability and microbial translocation).’
In January 2023, the WHO declared ‘no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe for human health’.
Dr Lauby-Secretan explained that for cancer specifically, in 2020 worldwide 4.1% of all new cancer cases were attributable to alcohol consumption (6.1% among men and 2.0% among women).
She added: ‘The risk of developing cancer increases substantially the more alcohol is consumed; but research shows that even low amounts of alcohol consumption increase the risk of breast and other types of cancer including oral, pharyngeal and oesophageal.’
In addition, all types of alcoholic beverages – including beer, wine and spirits – are linked to cancer, regardless of their quality and price.
