THURSDAY, June 5, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Less than half of U.S. adults are aware of the association between alcohol and cancer, according to a research letter published online May 29 in JAMA Oncology.

Joël Fokom Domgue, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues conducted a population-based survey study using 2022 data from the Health Information National Trends Survey to examine public awareness of alcohol use and cancer risk in the U.S. population. The study included 5,937 respondents (50.7 percent women).

The researchers found that 40.6 percent of respondents were aware that alcohol consumption increases cancer risk, and 39.1 and 20.4 percent were not aware and were uncertain, respectively. Non-Hispanic Black respondents, those with no more than some college education, and those believing cancer prevention is not possible had lower awareness of the association between alcohol and cancer (30.0, 35.2, and 31.5 percent, respectively). Non-Hispanic Black respondents, individuals with no more than some college education, and individuals believing that cancer prevention is not possible had lower odds of awareness that alcohol increases cancer risk in a multinomial logistic regression analysis (odds ratios, 0.59, 0.62, and 0.60, respectively). The odds of awareness of the association between alcohol and cancer risk were increased in association with having ever had cancer.

“With emerging evidence of the increased risk of cancer at even low levels of consumption, the revision of drinking guidelines and inclusion of health warning labels on alcohol-containing beverages is imperative to improve public awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer,” the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to Exact Sciences.

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