How to reduce alcohol consumption and cancer risks? Tax increases and sales limits recommended

The findings suggest that the most effective measures in this regard are increasing alcohol taxes, setting minimum prices, prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcohol below a minimum age, limiting the number of alcohol outlets, the days or hours of sale, or strictly prohibiting the sale of alcohol. State monopolies on alcohol sales and coordinated public policies have also been shown to be effective in "reducing the global burden of cancer," the researchers observe.

While IARC studies from 2007 to 2011 demonstrated the effectiveness of tax policies, price increases, and smoking bans in reducing smoking prevalence, no similar assessment had been made for alcoholic beverages. A direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer has been established for seven cancers (colon, rectum, esophagus, liver, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, breast). All alcoholic beverages are affected: beer, wine, spirits.

This is mainly due to the fact that ethanol—the main component of alcoholic beverages—once in the body, is converted into acetaldehyde, a substance that causes DNA damage, which can lead to carcinogenic mutations. After an initial study showing that reducing or stopping alcohol consumption lowers the risk of cancer, the study published Wednesday proves that public intervention reduces the number of alcohol-induced cancers, experts emphasize.

However, they point out some limitations to their work: all the available data comes from public policies in high-income countries (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden) and they predate the strong growth of online advertising and shopping in recent years.