Annual U.S. cancer deaths attributed to alcohol consumption more than doubled across a period spanning more than three decades, according to a recent study. Researchers reported that the annual total rose from 11,361 in 1990 to 23,126 in 2023.

The study was led by researchers at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Its findings were also presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Researchers examined more than 30 years of information from the Global Burden of Disease study to track changes in cancer deaths attributed to alcohol. The results showed differences by age, sex and cancer type.

Alcohol has long been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, surveys indicate that public awareness of the connection between alcohol and cancer remains limited.

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"The most surprising finding was the breadth of alcohol’s potential impact across cancer types," Chinmay Jani, M.D., corresponding author of the study and chief fellow in hematology and oncology at Sylvester, told Fox News Digital.

"Although its relationship with liver cancer is widely recognized, its contribution to cancers such as colorectal, esophageal, breast, pancreatic and prostate cancer is less understood by the public."

Older adults and men carried the highest overall burden of cancer deaths attributed to alcohol, according to the research. Among older men, liver cancer was the primary cause of these deaths, followed closely by esophageal and colorectal cancers.

The pattern differed among women. Breast cancer was the leading cause of cancer deaths attributed to alcohol among women overall, the study found.

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Among adults between the ages of 20 and 54, colorectal cancer stood out. It was the leading cause of cancer deaths attributed to alcohol among men and the second leading cause among women, surpassing liver cancer in both groups.

The findings give added weight to public health messaging because awareness of alcohol’s connection to several cancers remains low. The authors contrasted that limited awareness with broader public understanding of known risks such as tobacco use.

Researchers said no minimum "safe" level of alcohol has been established. Because of that uncertainty, they said drinking less may help lower long term cancer risk.

The study also highlighted the possibility that liquor may have a different risk profile than wine, even though they can contain similar amounts of alcohol. The researchers did not establish a specific safe drinking limit.

Because the researchers relied on existing national data, they did not follow individual participants over time. Therefore, they could not determine each person’s exact drinking habits or account for every lifestyle factor that might have affected the results.

Those limitations mean the findings demonstrate a strong association between alcohol use and cancer deaths. They do not prove that alcohol directly caused the deaths included in the analysis.

Gilberto Lopes, M.D., senior author and chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at the Miller School, said the cancer risk associated with alcohol is not confined to one disease or one group. He also described alcohol as a modifiable risk factor and said informed changes can be part of a broader cancer risk reduction strategy.

The study places particular attention on colorectal cancer among younger adults, especially men, while also documenting the broader burden among older adults and women. At the same time, its authors emphasized the need for patients to better understand alcohol’s potential connection to multiple forms of cancer.