OVER 4 percent of all new cancer cases in 2020 were attributable to alcohol consumption, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal The Lancet Oncology.

The researchers analyzed available data on population-level alcohol use in 2010 and on cancer cases in 2020. They assumed a 10-year period between alcohol consumption and the appearance of cancer, since the types of cancer included in the study — lip and oral cavity cancer, laryngeal cancer and breast cancer (among females) — have lengthy development periods and previous evidence of a causal relationship with alcohol consumption.

Of the 741,300 new alcohol-attributable cancer cases diagnosed last year, men represented 568,700 cases, while women accounted for 172,600 cases, the researchers found. Most of these cancers were in the esophagus, liver and breasts. Nearly 47 percent of the alcohol-attributable cancers were linked to heavy drinking, which the authors defined as 60 or more grams of ethanol alcohol (the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages), or more than six drinks, per day.

Drinking 20 to 60 grams, two to six drinks, of ethanol alcohol per day, which the authors defined as “risky drinking,” represented 39.4 percent of alcohol-attributable cancer cases. Moderate drinking — defined as 20 or fewer grams, or up to two drinks, per day — contributed to nearly 14 percent of cases. And the highest rates of alcohol-attributable cancers were among men who drank 30 to 50 grams of ethanol alcohol per day, and in women who consumed 10 to 30 grams every day.

“We urgently need to raise awareness about the link between alcohol consumption and cancer risk among policy makers and the general public,” said study author Harriet Rumgay, a doctoral student at WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, in a statement. “Public health strategies, such as reduced alcohol availability, labeling alcohol products with a health warning, and marketing bans could reduce rates of alcohol-driven cancer.”

The authors said they “found that alcohol use causes a substantial burden of cancer,” but other experts say multiple limitations could weaken the strength of that proposed relationship.

There are several biological pathways by which drinking alcohol can lead to cancer development, the authors wrote, including DNA, proteins and how ethanol metabolizes and effects hormone regulation. “What is new about this study is the global international comparison, broken down by sex and cancer type,” said Sadie Boniface, the head of research at the Institute of Alcohol Studies. (SD-Agencies)