ASCO: Alcohol-Associated Cancer Mortality Increased From 1990 to 2021

TUESDAY, May 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Alcohol-associated cancer mortality increased from 1990 to 2021, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, held from May 31 to June 4 in Chicago.Chinmay Jani, M.B.B.S., from the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and colleagues examined trends in alcohol-associated cancer mortality in the United States from 1990 to 2021. Absolute and proportional age-standardized mortality rates and crude mortality rates (CMR) attributable to heavy alcohol use were examined.The researchers found that from 1990 to 2021, there was an increase in alcohol-associated cancer deaths in the United States, from 11,896 to 23,207 per 100,000 population; mortality rates were significantly higher in those aged 55 years and older and in men. Across both age groups (20 to 54 years and 55 years and older), absolute CMR declined in women, while proportional alcohol-associated CMR increased across most cancer types, age groups, and both sexes, with the exception of liver cancer in those aged 55 years and older. Among individuals aged 55 years and older, the highest alcohol-associated proportional CMR was liver cancer in men (38.5 percent) and nasopharynx cancer in women (18.9 percent) in 2021, while lip and oral cavity cancer ranked highest for both sexes (41.8 percent for men; 26.9 percent for women). In 2021, the District of Columbia recorded the highest and Utah recorded the lowest alcohol-associated cancer CMR."We hope that our study will help educate the public on the impact of alcohol on individual cancer risk, as this is a potentially modifiable factor," senior author Gilberto Lopes, M.D., also from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in a statement.AbstractMore Information.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter