Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Vinyl Chloride and High-Fat Diet as a Model of Environment and Obesity Interaction
Published on: January 12, 2020
Cancer risk based on alcohol consumption levels: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis
Seunghee Jun1,2, Hyunjin Park1,2, Ui-Jeong Kim1
1Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Objectives:
Alcohol consumption is a well-established risk factor for cancer. Despite extensive research into the relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk, the effect of light alcohol consumption on cancer risk remains a topic of debate. To contribute to this discourse, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods:
Our systematic review aimed to investigate the associations between different levels of alcohol consumption and the risk of several cancer types. We focused on analyzing prospective associations using data from 139 cohort studies. Among them, 106 studies were included in the meta-analysis after a quantitative synthesis.
Results:
Our analysis did not find a significant association between light alcohol consumption and all-cause cancer risk (relative risk, 1.02; 95% confidence interval, 0.99 to 1.04), but we observed a dose-response relationship. Light alcohol consumption was significantly associated with higher risks of esophageal, colorectal, and breast cancers. Light to moderate drinking was associated with elevated risks of esophageal, colorectal, laryngeal, and breast cancers. Heavy drinking was also found to contribute to the risk of stomach, liver, pancreas, and prostate cancers, thereby increasing the risk of almost all types of cancer. Additionally, females generally had lower cancer risks compared to males.
Conclusions:
Our findings highlight that cancer risks extend beyond heavy alcohol consumption to include light alcohol consumption as well. These findings suggest that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption associated with cancer risk. Our results underscore the importance of public health interventions addressing alcohol consumption to mitigate cancer risks.
Related Concept Videos
Cancer Prevention
Some...
Cancer Survival Analysis
Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV

