Increase in alcohol taxes, ban on sales... Study suggests ways to improve the fight against cancer

The most effective public health measures to reduce alcohol consumption, and therefore the number of related cancers , are raising taxes, limiting or banning sales and advertising, in particular, according to a major study commissioned by the UN cancer agency.

Published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine , this work was carried out for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) by a group of international experts who reviewed all existing data relating to public policies aimed at reducing alcohol consumption in a population.

It appears that the most effective measures in this regard are to increase taxes on alcohol, set minimum prices, prohibit the sale or consumption of alcohol below a minimum age, limit the number of alcohol sales points, the days or hours of sale, or strictly prohibit the sale of alcohol.

The state monopoly on alcohol sales and coordinated public policies have also been shown to be effective in "reducing the global burden of cancer," the researchers observe.

While IARC studies from 2007 to 2011 demonstrated the effectiveness of tax policies, price increases and smoking bans in reducing smoking prevalence, no similar assessment had previously been made for alcoholic beverages.

A direct link between alcohol consumption and cancer has been established for seven cancers (colon-rectum, esophagus, liver, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, breast). All alcoholic beverages are affected: beer, wine, spirits.

This is mainly due to the fact that ethanol - the main component of alcoholic beverages - once in the body, is transformed into acetaldehyde, a substance that causes DNA damage, which can lead to carcinogenic mutations.

After an initial study showing that reducing or stopping alcohol consumption lowers the risk of cancer, the study published Wednesday proves that public intervention reduces the number of alcohol-induced cancers, experts emphasize.

They point out, however, some limitations to their work: all the available data come from public policies in high-income countries (United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden) and they predate the strong growth of online advertising and shopping in recent years.

This study, its authors emphasize, reinforces the relevance of the actions recommended by the latest global action plan against alcohol 2022-2030 of the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 2020, some 741,300 new cases of cancer were attributed to alcohol consumption, including moderate alcohol consumption, worldwide, according to the IARC.