Study details and key findings

Alcohol, specifically the ethanol in alcoholic beverages, metabolizes into compounds that damage DNA and proteins, which can then increase a person's risk of cancer. In 2020, excessive alcohol consumption was associated with over 740,000 cancer cases worldwide, or 4.1% of all cancer cases that year.

However, there is a common perception that not all alcoholic beverages have the same impact on health. For example, red wine is often considered a healthier choice, mostly due to its high resveratrol content. Resveratrol is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties, which is believed to help protect against cancer.

In the study, researchers from the Brown University School of Public Health analyzed "the vast and often contradictory literature on the carcinogenicity of red and white wine" to determine if red wine is healthier than white wine, as well as the cancer risks associated with both.

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from 42 observational studies that included almost 96,000 participants and found that there was no overall increase in cancer risk from wine consumption, regardless of the type. There was also no clear evidence that red wine helped reduce the risk of cancer.

"The results of our meta-analysis revealed no significant difference in cancer risk between red and white wine overall," said Eunyoung Cho, an associate professor of epidemiology and dermatology at Brown and colead author of the study.

Where does the research on alcohol's health impact stand?

Currently, research on alcohol and its impact on health has been mixed, with some studies suggesting potential health benefits and others finding health risks.

For example, a recent report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that people who drank moderately had lower all-cause mortality and a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than people who did not drink at all. Both of these conclusions were graded as being of moderate certainty.

Similarly, a 2021 study published in BMC Medicine found that light-to-moderate alcohol usage may be associated with a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke, and death for people with heart disease.

However, a 2024 study from the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer found that alcohol consumption was associated with seven different cancers: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, colorectum, female breast, squamous cell carcinoma in the esophagus, and hepatocellular carcinoma in the liver.

Farhad Islami, senior scientific director of cancer disparity research at ACS and the study's lead author, also noted that "there is accumulating evidence" that alcohol can cause other cancers, such as pancreatic cancer.

"The increased risk is because of the alcohol in alcoholic beverages, not the type of beverage," Islami said.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has also called for alcoholic beverages to carry warning labels about the association between alcohol consumption and cancer risk, like the warning labels on cigarettes.

Available evidence on cancer and alcohol consumption shows that women who consumed one drink a week or less, around 17%, would develop an alcohol-related cancer, while men who consumed the same amount had roughly a 10% chance of developing an alcohol-related cancer. The risk continued to increase with greater alcohol consumption, though women saw a higher increase in risk than men.

"Many people out there assume that as long as they're drinking at the limits or below the limits of current guidelines of one a day for women and two for men, that there is no risk to their health or well-being," Murthy said. "The data does not bear that out for cancer risk."

"What I want people to know here is that, while we don't have data to give a precise level at which every person can drink and minimize their risk of cancer, the exact level that's right for each individual does depend on their own risk of cancer based on their genetics, their family history, environmental exposures," he added.