Just as with labels on cigarettes, America’s top doctor is calling for cancer risk warnings on alcohol after a report cites studies linking alcoholic beverages to more than a half-dozen malignancies, including breast cancer.
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol and Cancer Risk on Friday outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol consumption is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the United States, after tobacco and obesity. And according to the report released by Murthy’s office, it increases the risk for at least seven types of cancer.
In a post on X, Murthy said alcohol contributes to about 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the U.S., a number greater than the 13,500 alcohol-related traffic accidents each year.
“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,” Murthy’s office said in a statement. “This advisory lays out steps we can all take to increase awareness of alcohol’s cancer risk and minimize harm.”