You probably know a glass of wine with dinner is not quite the health elixir it was once sold as. But the headlines about alcohol tend to focus on the liver, or the heart, or a long night out. The slower story is cancer, and it has quietly been getting worse.
US cancer deaths linked to alcohol rose from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023, more than doubling in a little over three decades. The analysis was published on September 2, 2026 in The Lancet Regional Health, Americas and drew on the Global Burden of Disease database.
The study, led by Dr. Chinmay Jani at the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, tracked eight cancers. Those include liver, esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic, breast and prostate cancer, plus stomach and head and neck cancers.
The age-standardized rate crept up by about 8 percent, from 3.8 to 4.1 deaths per 100,000 people. The much bigger jump in raw numbers reflects a larger and older US population over the same period.
Also read: Even without the weight loss, low-dose Ozempic eased failing hearts in animals
Colorectal and breast cancer lead the toll in younger adults
The risk is not just liver cancer anymore. Among adults aged 20 to 54, colorectal cancer was the leading cause of alcohol-attributable cancer death in men. In women the same age, breast cancer led, with colorectal second.
Older adults carried the heaviest overall burden. Men and people age 55 and older saw the biggest increases. Alcohol-attributable liver cancer deaths rose the most, climbing roughly 114 percent on an age-standardized basis.
Risk shows up at low intake as well. The National Cancer Institute notes that even light drinkers face higher risk of some cancers. Women who have one drink a day have a higher breast cancer risk than those who have less than one drink a week.
Only half of Americans know alcohol raises cancer risk
A survey of 1,650 US adults by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania was conducted in early February 2026. It found that 53 percent said regular alcohol use raises the chance of developing cancer.
Also read: Eating breakfast could change how you handle stress, new study suggests
Another 16 percent said alcohol has no effect, and 29 percent said they were not sure. Public awareness has barely moved since February 2025, when the figure was 56 percent.
The gap matters because the 2025 to 2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, released in January 2026, dropped the previous edition's warning about alcohol and cancer.
US bottles themselves have never carried a cancer warning, something we covered when two in three alcohol labels said 'drink responsibly' but almost none mentioned cancer.
Alcohol has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer since 1988, the same category as tobacco and asbestos.
Also read: Viral breathing techniques can cut blood flow to your brain by nearly half
The Miami researchers say no safe lower limit has been established, and that drinking less is the most actionable step a reader can take.
Also read: Doctors warn: These symptoms can easily be mistaken for heartburn
This article is made and published by Jesper Bengtson, who may have used AI in the preparation.