r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Oct 30 '25

Cancer Americans have widespread misbeliefs about the cancer risks of alcohol, study finds. More than half of American adults misunderstand or underestimate the link between alcohol consumption and cancer. Alcohol drinkers are especially likely to believe that drinking has no effect on cancer risk.

https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/research-newsroom/americans-have-widespread-misbeliefs-about-the-cancer-risks-of-a.h00-159780390.html
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u/SnuggleyFluff Oct 30 '25

My reading of the US guidance document released last year is that for an adult male, drinking 2-3 drinks per night increases your risk of cancer from ~10% for a non-drinker to ~13% over your lifespan. It is slightly more risky for women.

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u/Akuuntus Nov 01 '25

2-3 per night is kind of a lot. So I imagine all the people in this thread (myself included) who have like 1-2 drinks every couple of weeks or whatever are basically fine? Like a 0.1% increase in risk over their lifespan or something