Alcohol is a preventable cause of 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 cancer deaths each year in the United States. But less than half of citizens know that alcohol can heighten the risk of certain cancers. This substance doesn’t only negatively affect the liver or cause poor judgment—The 2025 U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory shows it can damage DNA and lead to cancer. That’s why intervention and alcohol rehab are crucial to overall health.
How Alcohol and Cancer Are Connected
When you drink, your body diminishes alcohol into harmful chemicals. Acetaldehyde, one of the most common chemicals, damages your cells’ DNA. Your body also gets inflamed trying to process alcohol, all while harming your cells and proteins. It’s this precise effect on the body’s major building blocks that can make an individual more vulnerable to developing cancer.
Common Cancers and Alcohol Use
Let’s move past the medical jargon and talk about specific risks alcohol abuse can have. Drinking can trigger cancer in several places. Some are more common than others, and knowing the risks is crucial to intervening and getting healthier sooner rather than later.
Is Pancreatic Cancer Alcohol-Related?
When you drink, your pancreas has to work double-time making enzymes to help break down alcohol. This extra work causes inflammation and damages pancreas cells. Over time, alcohol also creates those harmful chemicals that build up in your pancreas. These chemicals prevent damaged cells from repairing themselves properly, raising the risk of pancreatic cancer.
Can Alcohol Cause Colon Cancer?
Alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde, which directly damages the inner lining of your colon. This chemical irritates the cells and stops them from fixing damaged DNA. Alcohol also keeps your colon from absorbing folate, a vitamin that normally helps protect against cancer. The more you drink, the more these effects exacerbate, leading to cell changes that can evolve into colon cancer.
Are Alcohol and Throat Cancer Linked?
Compared to the colon and pancreas, your throat takes the most direct hit from drinking. As alcohol passes through, it dissolves the cells lining your throat. When your body breaks alcohol into acetaldehyde, this chemical builds up in your throat tissue, damaging cell DNA. Plus, alcohol makes it easier for other harmful substances to get into these damaged throat cells—that’s why drinking and smoking together are particularly dangerous.
Reducing Your Alcohol-Cancer Risk
While thinking about serious health concerns like cancer and how addictions like alcoholism can affect it are scary, there’s hope. It’s okay to be nervous about getting help. With our help at Granite Recovery Centers, you or your loved one can understand and overcome your alcohol addiction.
We provide safe, evidence-based therapies to ensure recovery lasts. By mitigating the risks of alcoholism, you can help lower the chance of cancer. After all, your or your loved one’s health is important.
