An increasing proportion of the U.S. public may be aware of the link between consuming alcohol and the elevated risk of later developing cancer, according to a recent survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC).
Background
On January 3, 2025, Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, U.S. Surgeon General, issued an advisory on alcohol and the risk of cancer that called for updated warning labels on alcoholic beverage containers to indicate that drinking alcohol could carry an increased risk for at least seven types of cancers—including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and hepatic cancer.
In a December 2024 report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reviewed the scientific evidence on the relationship between moderate alcohol consumption and health impacts such as weight gain, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. While the report noted the connection between moderate alcohol consumption and a higher risk of breast cancer, it listed positive and negative findings regarding alcohol consumption and various other health conditions. Further, a January 14, 2025, federal report from U.S. health agencies led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration uncovered that even moderate alcohol consumption carried health risks, including injuries, liver disease, and cancer.
Survey Methods and Findings
In the survey, investigators asked 1,716 U.S. adults to answer questions regarding the association between alcohol and cancer between January 30 and February 10, 2025. They then compared the responses with those provided for a previous APPC survey conducted in September 2024. The survey data came from the 23rd wave of a nationally representative panel of U.S. adults—most of whom have been empaneled since April 2021. To account for attrition, small replenishment samples were added over time using a random probability sampling design. The most recent replenishment, in September 2024, added 360 respondents to the sample. The investigators detailed that the margin of sampling error was ± 3.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. They noted that all of the figures were rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add to 100%.
The investigators found that 56% of the respondents stated that the regular consumption of alcohol increases the risk of later developing cancer, which was up from 40% of those who completed the previous APPC survey. The percentage of those who said alcohol consumption has no effect on their risk of later developing cancer fell from 20% to 16%, and the percentage of respondents who were unsure how alcohol consumption affects cancer risks declined from 40% to 26%.
Although Dr. Murthy’s warning was not the only report issued on alcohol and cancer in recent months, the investigators revealed that it was the only one to gain significant public awareness. The respondents who knew of at least one report on alcohol and health were asked if “anything that you have heard or read about the report(s)” made them more or less likely to accept an alcoholic beverage if one was offered on a social occasion or if the reports had no effect. Among the 48% of respondents who noted they had “read or heard about” one or more recent reports on the impact of alcohol on health, 29% of them said they would be less likely to accept an alcoholic beverage on a social occasion if one was offered to them. Nonetheless, 61% of them stated that the reports would have no effect on whether they would accept an alcoholic beverage and 9% of them stated that they would be more likely to accept a drink.
Among the small group who suggested that something they heard or read about the reports made them more likely to accept an alcoholic beverage on a social occasion, 73% of them said they also would be more likely to accept a second drink if one was offered to them and 22% of them said they’d be less likely to accept a second drink if offered.
In a separate question, 46% of those who reported exposure to at least one report said they knew about was Dr. Murthy’s advisory; however, 44% of them were unsure which report they had encountered. The survey found that very few of the respondents knew of the recent other reports.
After noting that moderate alcohol use is defined as one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men, the investigators asked those who had seen or heard of only one report what they read about moderate alcohol use. They discovered that 47% of the respondents stated that, according to the report, moderate alcohol use has “harmful effects” and 25% of them stated that moderate alcohol use has “some harmful and some positive health effects.” About 20% of the respondents were uncertain of what the report said regarding moderate alcohol consumption.
Conclusions
“Our data suggest that the [U.S.] Surgeon General’s synthesis of the science showing that alcohol consumption increases [an individual’s] risk of cancer got traction,” highlighted Kathleen Hall Jamieson, PhD, Director of the APPC. “The … impact is a reminder that what health officials communicate about science can affect behavior,” she concluded.
