Drinking too much alcohol may be behind one in 25 new cancers around the world every year, a study has claimed.
An international team of experts estimate 741,300 diagnoses, or 4 per cent of new cancer cases in 2020, could be attributed to heavy and moderate drinking.
The analysis — which looked at alcohol sales and medical records in 240 countries — found the majority of cases linked to alcohol were cancers of the oesophagus, liver, and breast.
Britain ranked mid-table in the global analysis, with 4 per cent of cancer cases in the country linked to alcohol consumption (16,800).
The US performed slightly better, with around 3 per cent driven by excessive alcohol consumption (52,700 cases).
Both countries were well behind the likes of Mongolia, where consuming too much booze was linked to nearly one in ten cancers, and Moldova where it may have been behind one in twelve.
Kuwait, where all alcohol is banned, had the lowest number of cancer cases linked to alcohol consumption.
The authors admitted their study wasn't able to look at the impact of the pandemic on drinking rates. Numerous studies have shown alcohol consumption rates went up during lockdown and more cancers were missed.
Britain ranked mid-table in the global analysis, with 4 per cent of cancer cases in the country linked to alcohol consumption (16,800). The US performed slightly better, with around 3 per cent driven by excessive alcohol consumption (52,700 cases). Both countries were well behind the likes of Mongolia, where consuming too much booze was linked to nearly one in ten cancers, and Moldova where it may have been behind one in twelve
The analysis — which looked at alcohol sales and medical records in 240 countries — found the majority of cases linked to alcohol were cancers of the oesophagus, liver, and breast
The research, published in The Lancet Oncology, used alcohol sales data from 2010 and, assuming a 10 year latency period between consumption and diagnosis, then combined this with cancer incidence in 2020.
Researchers drew on data from the World Health Organization's Global Cancer Observatory, which measure cases of cancer across the world.
Globally, men were found to be more likely to get cancer as a result of drinking, accounting for an estimated 77 per cent of all the cases in the study, with women making up the remaining 23 per cent.
While risky and heavy drinking contributed to the majority of the global cancer cases, the authors found that even moderate drinking, the equivalent of about two glasses of wine or two pints of lager a day, accounted for 14 per cent of all cases, about 103,100 cases.
'Risky' drinking was defined as two to three pints of lager per day or two to five small glasses of red wine. Heavy drinking was more than four pints a day or more than five small glasses
