Alcohol and Cancer Risk (JAMA, 2025)
A newly published Surgeon General’s Advisory and accompanying JAMA article underscore the compelling and growing evidence linking alcohol consumption to cancer. The U.S. Surgeon General has urged that warning labels on alcoholic beverages be updated to explicitly include cancer risk—a change long overdue since the existing labels (focused on pregnancy and impaired driving) date back to 1988. Alcohol consumption is firmly associated with at least seven cancer types: oral, pharynx, larynx, esophageal, breast, colorectal, liver, and stomach cancers. Evidence is primarily derived from observational studies, which may be influenced by confounding factors such as smoking, BMI, diet, physical activity, and underreporting of alcohol intake. The risk of developing cancer increases with higher levels of alcohol consumption, though even low to moderate use is not without risk. Clinicians are encouraged to routinely screen for alcohol use (e.g., via the Single-Item Alcohol Screening Question [SASQ]) and deliver brief interventions when limits are exceeded.
The full article can be found here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2837352?guestaccesskey=d3d71319-dc56-4b12-aeb3-58bcf5cc6883
Morford KL, Tetrault JM, O’Connor PG. Alcohol and Cancer Risk. JAMA. Published online August 06, 2025. doi:10.1001/jama.2025.11229