Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCarcinogenic EffectsDrinking HabitsGeneticsEffect on Survival

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Carcinogenic Effects

Drinking Habits

Genetics

Effect on Survival

In 2020, research from the University of Liverpool Institute of Translational Medicine strongly suggested thatalcohol use disorder(AUD, a.k.a. alcoholism) is an independent risk factor of lung cancer, especiallysquamous cell lung carcinoma. The study contends that the same genetic variations that can predispose a person to alcohol abuse may also increase a person’s risk of lung cancer.

According to the investigators, six gene variants strongly linked to alcoholism are independently linked to lung cancer as well. Although the evidence is far from conclusive, if true, it could add lung cancer to the growing list of other cancers thought to be linked to alcohol.

Alcohol as a Carcinogen

Unlike some carcinogens, such astobacco smoke, alcohol is thought to promote the growth of an existing tumor rather than initiate the onset of cancer. This includesmalignanciessuch asliver cancer,colon cancer,rectal cancer, breast cancer, andhead and neck cancers.

The mechanisms for alcohol’s carcinogenic effects are not entirely clear, but it is believed ethanol and its major metabolite, acetaldehyde, are genotoxic—meaning that they can damage the genetic material within a cell.

Drinking Habits and Lung Cancer

Until recently, there was no clear evidence that alcohol had the same association with lung cancer as other cancers, in part because many drinkers are smokers (making it hard to draw a clear cause-and-effect relationship). Moreover, of the studies that did exist, most were relatively small and often came to contradictory conclusions.

The link betweenlung cancerandalcoholconsumption has long been considered controversial. There has been debate about the nature of this relationship, with some studies arguing that there is no association and others contending that alcohol may have a protectivebenefit in certain cases.

One of the largest analyses, published in 2016 in theAmerican Journal of Epidemiology,reported that heavy alcohol use (defined as over seven drinks per day) modestly increased the risk of lung cancer, but that moderate consumption (one drink or less per day) actually decreased the risk.

This is not all that unusual a finding given that similar patterns are seen with other types of cancers. That is, low alcohol consumption appears to have a protective benefit while high consumption increases the cancer risk.

Where lung cancer diverges is in the high rate of smoking among heavy drinkers. While 29.8% of non-drinkers in the study werenever-smokers, 30.3% of heavy drinkers were current orformer smokerswho smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day. As such, it is difficult to ascertain how much heavy drinking contributes to the risk among people who are already at high risk due to smoking.

What this suggests is that alcohol may contribute to the development of lung cancer independently, most presumably in people with a genetic predisposition for the disease.

Why Is Lung Cancer Increasing in Non-Smokers?

Genetic Predisposition

In the aforementioned study from the University of Liverpool, scientists decided to look at the genes associated with alcohol use disorder and found a surprising link to the rate of lung cancer in 171,216 adults in the United Kingdom.

According to the University of Liverpool research, each of the six genes associated with AUD are independently linked to lung cancer, most commonly squamous cell carcinoma.

What this suggests is that having a genetic predisposition for AUD may predispose you to lung cancer as well.

Even so, having these genetic variants neither means you will get lung cancer nor develop alcoholism; the relationship is not so straightforward. It is only in the presence of AUD that the risk of lung cancer appears to increase.

As such, alcohol may trigger AUD in people with a predisposition for the disease and, in turn, promote the progression of lung cancer along the same genetic pathways. It is a compelling hypothesis in need of further research.

Alcohol Use and Lung Cancer Survival

Research also suggests that alcohol use can influence morbidity and mortality (illness and death) in people with lung cancer. Contributing to this phenomenon is a person’sperception of wellness following cancer treatment.

According to a review of studies from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, around 69% of people with lung cancer were drinkers prior to their diagnosis. Of these, 16% quit alcohol following cancer treatment. Those who didn’t were nine times more likely to describe themselves as being in poor health compared to those who did.

A 2018 study in theJournal Thoracic Diseasefurther reported that around one in eight people requiring lung cancer surgery has AUD, a condition that almost invariably leads to serious health complications.

A Word From Verywell

Despite ongoing debate and gaps in research, it seems clear that heavy drinking is something that needs to be addressed if you are at risk of lung cancer. While there is nothing to suggest that alcoholcauseslung cancer outright, the statistics strongly suggest that heavy drinkers are more likely to develop the disease—even if they don’t smoke.

Like cigarettes, there is no actual benefit to drinking. And, it’s well known that quitting alcohol can be as hard for some as quitting cigarettes. If you have signs and symptoms of AUD, you need toseek treatment, whether you are at risk of cancer or not.

Furthermore, despite evidence that light to moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk of lung cancer, this should in no way suggest that a couple of glasses of alcohol per week “prevents” cancer. It does not.

8 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Thompson A, Cook J, Choquet H, et al.Functional validity, role, and implications of heavy alcohol consumption genetic loci.Sci Adv.2020;6(3):eaay5034. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay5034

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Ratna A, Mandrekar P.Alcohol and cancer: Mechanisms and therapies.Biomolecules. 2017;7(3):7060061. doi:10.3390/biom7030061

Kunzmann A, Coleman H, Huang W, Berndt S.The association of lifetime alcohol use with mortality and cancer risk in older adults: A cohort study.PLOS ONE.2018. 15(6):e1002585. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002585

Sui S, Yan L, Baer D, Udaltsova N, Klatsky A.Wine, liquor, beer, and risk of lung cancer.Chest.2011 Oct;140(Suppl_4):305A. doi:10.1378/chest.1112531

Yang P.Epidemiology of lung cancer prognosis: quantity and quality of life.Methods Mol Biol. 2009;471:469-86. doi:10.1007/978-1-59745-416-2_24

Gagné S, Mcisaac DI.Modifiable risk factors for patients undergoing lung cancer surgery and their optimization: A review.J Thorac Dis. 2018;10(Suppl 32):S3761-72. doi:10.21037/jtd.2018.10.04

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