How Does Alcohol Affect Breast Cancer Risk?
Feb 21, 2025
About half the country doesn’t know that alcohol increases cancer risk.
In January 2025, the U.S. Surgeon General put out an advisory on alcohol and cancer risk, calling for cancer risk-warning labels on alcoholic beverages. The advisory said alcohol contributes to nearly 100,000 cases of cancer each year, and about 20,000 deaths each year.
The advisory also cited a 2019 study showing that alcohol is more closely linked to breast cancer than any other cancer. More than 44,000 breast cancer cases in 2019 were related to drinking alcohol, which was about 16% of the total number of breast cancer cases that year.
Lifestyle medicine researcher Dr. Tracy Crane discusses alcohol and breast cancer risk, including how to stop thinking of a drink as a reward after a hard day.
Listen to the episode to hear Dr. Crane explain:
- why there is no amount of alcohol that is considered safe or healthy
- why alcohol seems to increase cancer risk more in women than men
- how alcohol increases risk
- how we can start to change the culture around alcohol