IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Volume 20A: Reduction or Cessation of Alcohol Consumption

A Special Report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), published in The New England Journal of Medicine, reviews and summarizes the available evidence on the effectiveness of reduction or cessation of alcohol consumption in reducing alcohol-related cancers.

The Special Report summarizes the outcomes of a Working Group meeting. The detailed assessments will be published as Volume 20A of the IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention series, which provides evaluations of the cancer-preventive potential of strategies and interventions.

A Working Group of international experts, convened by IARC, evaluated the body of literature assessing the effectiveness of reduction or cessation of alcohol consumption in relation to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, colorectum, liver, and breast.

Based on the evidence reviewed, the experts concluded that there is sufficient evidence that reduction or cessation of alcohol consumption reduces the incidence of cancers of the oral cavity and the oesophagus, limited evidence for cancers of the larynx, colorectum, and breast, and inadequate evidence for cancers of the pharynx and liver.

The Working Group also identified the mechanisms of alcohol-related carcinogenesis that may be reversed upon cessation, and concluded that there is strong evidence for the mechanistic pathways involving acetaldehyde metabolism, genotoxicity (such as DNA damage), and the immune and inflammatory systems (intestinal permeability and microbial translocation).

IARC Handbooks Volume 20A will also provide background information on the alcohol-related cancer burden worldwide, the population attributable fraction of alcohol-related cancers, and determinants of cessation.

Gapstur SM, Bouvard V, Nethan ST, Freudenheim JL, Abnet CC, English DR, et al.
The IARC perspective on alcohol reduction or cessation and cancer risk
N Engl J Med, Published online 28 December 2023;
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2306723

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