Alcohol and cancer risk: A review of messaging content on websites of medical, cancer, government, and nonprofit organizations and alcohol companies.

Abstract

e22508 Background: Alcohol is a risk factor for multiple cancers, yet there is limited awareness of this risk relationship among the public in the United States (US) 1-5 . In December 2024 to January 2025, the US Surgeon General issued a health advisory 6 , emphasizing the link between alcohol and cancer, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) 7 and the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) 8 both concluded that even low levels of alcohol use pose carcinogenic risks. Our study aimed to characterize the current alcohol and cancer risk-related messaging across websites of US health organizations in order to understand the extent to which public communication may be influencing the lack of awareness regarding alcohol and cancer risk. Methods: The websites of 157 medical, cancer, governmental, and non-profit organizations and alcohol-funded entities were selected. A standardized coding process identified the presence of alcohol and cancer risk-related messaging. Review of websites was conducted by two independent reviewers over the period between August to December 2025. Results: The analysis of 126 websites of National Medical societies revealed 72 of them had alcohol-related content. Among those 72 websites, 46 (64%) mentioned health risks associated with alcohol use, and 21 (29%) mentioned the cancer risk from alcohol. Notably, only six (13%) websites stated that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. All governmental websites included statements about both health and cancer risks associated with alcohol, and that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Among eight cancer organization websites, six mentioned the cancer risk from alcohol and five stated that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Among seven alcohol-related nonprofit organizations, four mentioned the cancer risk from alcohol. Among eleven alcohol company websites, five mentioned the cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption. Conclusions: The lack of mention of the cancer risks associated with alcohol use may be contributing to the lack of knowledge about the cancer risks associated with alcohol use among the general public. These results suggest that there is an opportunity to improve the public’s knowledge regarding the harms of alcohol use, including its associated cancer risk.