Alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in the USA doubled between 1990 and 2023

Cancer deaths attributable to alcohol in the USA rose from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023 — a doubling over 33 years. The figures come from a secondary analysis of Global Burden of Disease data, so they are attributable-fraction estimates rather than counted deaths: they describe the scale of the problem in a population, not the risk faced by any one person. Increases spanned liver, breast, colorectal, oesophageal, pancreatic and prostate cancer, with the greatest burden among men and adults aged 55 and over; among adults aged 20-54, colorectal cancer ranked first in men and breast cancer in women. The work was published in The Lancet Regional Health — Americas after an earlier presentation at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting.