By Gabrielle M. Etzel | Washington Examiner
Alcohol should come with a warning label indicating it is a leading cause of preventable cancer, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a new report Friday.
“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” Murthy said in a press release announcing the new 22-page report.
Nearly three-quarters of all U.S. adults, 72%, reported that they consumed one or more alcoholic drinks per week, but fewer than half reported that they were aware of the documented relationship between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.
Seven different types of cancer, including breast cancer and colon cancer, have now been linked by medical studies to alcohol consumption.