Alcohol
Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of: mouth cancer, pharyngeal cancer (upper throat), oesophageal cancer (food pipe), laryngeal cancer (voice box), breast cancer, bowel cancer and liver cancer.
Every year, alcohol causes about 6% of cancer deaths in the UK, killing over 9,000 people. Along with smoking, alcohol causes the vast majority of mouth and oesophageal cancers. In the last decade, mouth cancer has become much more common and this may be because of higher levels of drinking.
Related categories
Alcohol is a sub-category of Causes of cancer and Preventing cancer
Browse content about Alcohol
Browse news and press releases about Alcohol
- Alarming rise in oral cancer rates among forty-somethings
- Alcohol flush gene could reveal oesophageal cancer risk
- Alcohol, smoking and breast cancer: the definitive answer
- Britons among EU worst for binge drinking
- Drugs committee recommends 18 year minimum for cigarette sales
- Government figures show extent of summer holiday drinking
- Heavy drinking linked to increased cancer risk
- Men unaware of link between alcohol and cancer
- One in 25 deaths attributable to alcohol
- Quantity not type of alcohol increases breast cancer risk
- Scientists calculate alcohol cancer burden
- Sunburn, smoking, alcohol and obesity fuelling rising cancer rates
- Alcohol cancer risks "underestimated" say researchers
- Alcohol is linked to rise in mouth cancer cases but few are of danger
- Booze boosts bowel cancer risk
- Doctors call for stronger government action on alcohol
- Four healthy behaviours may add 14 years to lifespan
- Heavy drinkers risking mouth cancer
- IARC finds more cancers linked to tobacco and alcohol
- New study suggests alcohol promotes breast tumour growth
- One or two drinks a day increase the risk of cancer in women
- Raising alcohol taxes shown to reduce deaths
- Study backs controversial link between alcohol intake and endometrial cancer
- Teenage smokers at higher risk of alcohol abuse
