U.S. Surgeon General Says Alcohol Should Come With a Cancer Warning Label

Before Vivek Murthy, MD, leaves his post as the U.S. Surgeon General this year, he has one final (yet impactful) statement to make: Alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of certain cancers, according to his advisory issued today. Within the last year, Dr. Murthy has warned the public about the negative health effects of loneliness as well as parental stress within our society. Now, Dr. Murthy is turning his attention to the effects of alcoholic beverages, which he believes deserve the same cancer warning label as that of a pack of cigarettes.

Speaking with NPR Morning Edition about his latest advisory, Dr. Murthy stated that even moderate alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of seven types of cancer—including mouth, throat, larynx, esophageal, breast, liver, colon, and rectum cancer. He also says alcohol directly contributes to 100,000 cancer cases and 20,000 related cancer deaths each year, and more specifically, that 1 in 6 breast cancer cases can be linked to alcohol consumption. While most cancer deaths are related to heavy drinking (i.e., exceeding the recommended daily amount), Dr. Murthy says cancers of the throat, mouth, and breast can rise with as little as one drink per day or less.

“Many people out there assume that as long as they’re drinking at the limits or below the limits of current guidelines of one [alcoholic beverage] a day for women and two [alcoholic beverages] a day for men, there is no risk to their health or well-being,” Dr. Murthy said in the interview. But “the data does not bear that out for cancer risk,” he adds.

For decades, medical professionals have gone back and forth about the health risks associated with alcohol consumption. While organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have long since known about possible links between alcohol, cancer, and other negative health consequences, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans still recommend one to two alcoholic drinks per day or less, and prior studies have indicated moderate alcohol consumption could potentially reduce the risk of illnesses like cardiovascular disease¹—the number one cause of death in the United States.

However, recent studies tend to contradict this, too, finding that heavy and moderate drinking can be associated with an increase in certain heart conditions² such as atrial fibrillation (i.e., a type of irregular heartbeat).

Dr. Murthy’s recent advisory came with an overview of research and studies from the last two decades—including one global study of 195 countries involving 28 million people—all of which found a greater risk of cancer with alcohol consumption. But will a new warning label come to pass? (And should we be worried just yet?)

We probably won’t see a new label anytime soon

Despite Dr. Murthy sounding the alarm bells on this issue, it’s unlikely that we’ll see an updated warning label on alcoholic beverages anytime soon. For one, Congress is the only institution that can mandate this label update, and the current label on alcohol (which warns against drinking while pregnant, driving, and causing health problems) hasn’t been changed since its adoption in 1988. Another reason? There’s often a lot of pushback on label updates from the alcohol industry as a whole.

Plus, there are some marginal reviews (like this one from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine commissioned by Congress) that cite slight increases in breast cancer with alcohol consumption but no clear link with other cancers, which may disrupt any sort of mandate from passing.

So, should we be worried?

This warning should serve as exactly that—a warning. Not everyone who drinks in moderation will develop cancer, and Dr. Murthy has emphasized that a person’s risk increases as their alcohol consumption increases. Additionally, every person’s cancer risk is different depending on factors like family history, genetics, and things like exposure to carcinogens (cancer-causing substances) in your daily environment and overall health status.

Ultimately, “If an individual drinks occasionally for special events, or if you’re drinking a drink or two a week, your risk is likely to be significantly less than if you’re drinking every day,” Dr. Murthy adds. Limiting alcohol in general is always advised for overall health and well-being.