Is alcohol a carcinogenic risk?

Consumption of alcoholic beverages has been implicated as a risk factor for the development of various cancers including oesophageal, oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, liver and breast cancers. This article is a commentary on an earlier paper entitled 'Alcohol: a carcinogenic risk?' which challenges some of the evidence relating alcoholic beverage consumption to risk for these cancers. In the course of commenting on this paper, evidence is reviewed which shows a relationship between these cancers and consumption of alcoholic beverages, which is often found to be dose-related.