Figure 1: Schematic overview of search results
Symbols represent the mean value per alcohol category. The solid line represents the men and the dotted line the women.
Figure 2: The sigmoidal dose response model for cancer risk of the 20 most common cancers in the western world per gender associated with alcohol consumption

Cancer type

Age standardized rate per 100,000 men

Percentage contribution in men

Age standardized rate per 100,000 women

Percentage contribution in women

1

Breast cancer*

0

0

106.6

39.2

2

Prostate cancer*

105.5

26.8

-

-

3

Colorectal cancer*

59

15.0

36.1

13.3

4

Lung cancer*

66.3

16.8

26.1

9.6

5

Bladder cancer*

29.1

7.4

6.1

2.2

6

Renal cancer

17.4

4.4

8

2.4

7

Gastric cancer

15.2

3.9

7.1

2.6

8

Ovarian cancer*

-

-

12.6

4.6

9

Non Hodgkin lymphoma

13.8

3.5

9.6

3.5

10

Skin cancer

13.2

3.4

13.1

4.8

11

Pancreatic cancer

12.2

3.1

9

3.3

12

Leukemia

11.8

3.0

7.1

2.6

13

Liver cancer

11.1

2.8

3.6

1.3

14

Esophageal cancer*

8.4

2.1

2

0.7

15

Larynx cancer*

8.3

2.1

0.9

0.3

16

Glioma, brain cancer

8.1

2.1

5.9

2.2

17

Multiple myeloma

5.5

1.4

3.7

1.4

18

Gall bladder cancer

2.8

0.7

3.1

1.1

19

Thyroid cancer

3.5

0.9

9.3

3.4

20

Hodgkin lymphoma

2.6

0.7

2.1

0.8

 

Total

393.8

100.1

272

99.3

Table 1: Incidence of twenty most common cancer types possibly associated with alcohol drinking in men and women of the European Union∧
∧Data obtained from database: https://eco.iarc.fr/eucan/Cancer.aspx?Cancer.
*significant difference between men and women was assessed by Chi-square or Fisher exact with 1 degree of freedom applying a p-value below 0.05, except for total cancer (19 degrees of freedom).

Relative Risk for Men

Relative Risk for Women
Alcohol (g/day)

0-2.5

2.5-14.9

15-29.9

30-60

>60

0-2.5

2.5-14.9

15-29.9

30-60

>60
Cancer type

1

Breast cancer(21)

1

1

1

1

1

1

1.02

1.20

1.20

1.15

2

Prostate cancer(16)

1

1.04

1.06

1.06

1.04

1

1

1

1

1

3

Colorectal cancer(36)

1

1.06

1.13

1.27

1.35

1

1.06

1.13

1.27

1.35

4

Lung cancer(23)

1

0.80

0.81

0.68

0.91

1

0.80

0.81

0.68

0.91

5

Bladder cancer(37)

1

1

0.98

0.97

0.97

1

1

0.98

0.97

0.97

6

Renal cancer(38)

1

0.85

0.73

0.66

0.60

1

0.85

0.68

0.54

0.54

7

Gastric cancer(39)

1

1.03

1.13

1.17

1.12

1

1.03

1.13

1.17

1.12

8

Ovarian cancer(40)

1

1

1

1

1

1

1.02

1.18

1.13

1.13

9

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma(41)

1

0.88

0.87

0.87

0.84

1

0.88

0.87

0.87

0.84

10

Skin cancer(42)

1

1.11

1.25

1.55

1.55

1

1.11

1.25

1.55

1.55

11

Pancreatic cancer(43)

1

0.98

0.93

1.18

1.18

1

0.97

0.93

1.07

1.07

12

Leukemia(44)

1

0.88

0.90

0.97

0.97

1

0.88

0.90

0.97

0.97

13

Liver cancer(16)

1

1.05

1.08

1.08

1.59

1

0.81

1.24

1.24

3.89

14

Esophageal cancer(45)

1

1.17

2.34

2.34

5.73

1

1.17

2.34

2.34

5.73

15

Larynx cancer(46)

1

0.88

1.47

1.47

2.62

1

0.88

1.47

1.47

2.62

16

Glioma, brain cancer(47, 48)

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

17

Multiple myeloma(49)

1

0.96

0.89

0.85

0.98

1

0.96

0.89

0.85

0.98

18

Gall bladder cancer

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

19

Thyroid cancer(50)

1

0.83

0.75

0.80

0.80

1

0.80

0.73

0.71

0.80

20

Hodgkin lymphoma(51)

1

0.71

0.73

0.73

0.74

1

0.71

0.73

0.73

0.74

Table 2: Relative risks for twenty cancer types reported to be possibly associated with alcohol drinking in the Western world in both men and women per alcohol consumption
 
Risk contribution for men
Risk contribution for women
  Alcohol (g/day)  

0-2.5

2.5-14.9

15-29.9

30-60

>60

  

0-2.5

2.5-14.9

15-29.9

30-60

>60
Cancer type
Contr*
Contr*

1

Breast cancer

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

39.2

0.392

0.400

0.470

0.470

0.451

2

Prostate cancer

26.8

0.268

0.279

0.284

0.284

0.279

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

3

Colorectal cancer

15.0

0.150

0.159

0.170

0.191

0.203

13.3

0.133

0.141

0.150

0.169

0.180

4

Lung cancer

16.8

0.168

0.134

0.136

0.114

0.153

9.6

0.096

0.077

0.078

0.065

0.087

5

Bladder cancer

7.4

0.074

0.074

0.073

0.072

0.072

2.2

0.022

0.022

0.022

0.021

0.021

6

Renal cancer

4.4

0.044

0.037

0.032

0.029

0.026

2.4

0.024

0.020

0.016

0.013

0.013

7

Gastric cancer

3.9

0.039

0.042

0.044

0.046

0.047

2.6

0.026

0.028

0.029

0.031

0.031

8

Ovarian cancer

0

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

0.000

4.6

0.046

0.047

0.054

0.052

0.052
9
Non Hodgkin lymphoma

3.5

0.035

0.031

0.030

0.030

0.029

3.5

0.035

0.031

0.030

0.030

0.029

10

Skin cancer

3.4

0.034

0.038

0.043

0.053

0.053

4.8

0.048

0.053

0.060

0.074

0.074

11

Pancreatic cancer

3.1

0.031

0.030

0.029

0.037

0.037

3.3

0.033

0.032

0.031

0.035

0.035

12

Leukemia

3.0

0.030

0.026

0.027

0.029

0.029

2.6

0.026

0.023

0.023

0.025

0.025

13

Liver cancer

2.8

0.028

0.029

0.030

0.030

0.045

1.3

0.013

0.011

0.016

0.016

0.051

14

Esophageal cancer

2.1

0.021

0.025

0.049

0.049

0.120

0.7

0.007

0.008

0.016

0.016

0.040

15

Larynx cancer

2.1

0.021

0.018

0.031

0.031

0.055

0.3

0.003

0.003

0.004

0.004

0.008

16

Glioma, brain cancer

2.1

0.021

0.021

0.021

0.021

0.021

2.2

0.022

0.022

0.022

0.022

0.022

17

Multiple Myeloma

1.4

0.014

0.013

0.012

0.012

0.014

1.4

0.014

0.013

0.012

0.012

0.014

18

Gall bladder cancer

0.7

0.007

0.007

0.007

0.007

0.007

1.1

0.011

0.011

0.011

0.011

0.011

19

Thyroid cancer

0.9

0.009

0.007

0.007

0.007

0.007

3.4

0.034

0.027

0.025

0.024

0.027

20

Hodgkin lymphoma

0.7

0.007

0.005

0.005

0.005

0.005

0.8

0.008

0.006

0.006

0.006

0.006

 

Total

100.1

1.001

0.977

1.029

1.047

1.200

99.3

0.993

0.974

1.077

1.100

1.177

*Contribution to total cancer risk
Table 3: Risk contribution for twenty cancer types reported to be possibly associated with alcohol drinking in the Western World in both men and women per alcohol consumption category
Men
Women

Cancer type

Direction*

logEC50

R2

logEC50

R2

1

Breast cancer

up

---

---

9.6

0.97

2

Prostate cancer

up

8.2

0.90

---

---

3

Colorectal cancer

up

22.8

0.94

22.8

0.94

4

Lung cancer

down

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

5

Bladder cancer

down

22.5

1.00

33.8

1.00

6

Renal cancer

down

8.7

0.92

22.4

0.90

7

Gastric cancer

up

21.9

0.93

9.1

0.94

8

Ovarian cancer

up

---

---

9.5

0.95

9

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma

down

8.2

0.97

8.2

0.97

10

Skin cancer

up

22.7

0.97

22.7

0.98

11

Pancreas cancer

up

37.3

0.97

37.4

0.84

12

Leukemia

down

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

13

Liver cancer

up

52.7

0.96

54.4

0.95

14

Esophageal cancer

up

45.6

0.93

45.6

0.93

15

Larynx cancer

up

45.5

0.89

45.8

0.96

16

Glioma, brain cancer

absent&

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

17

Multiple myeloma

down

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

18

Gall bladder cancer

absent&

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

N.A.+

19

Thyroid cancer

down

2.9

N.A.

8.1

0.92

20

Hodgkin lymphoma

down

2.9

1.00

2.9

1.00

 

Overall

up

45.5

0.95

22.3

0.87

Table 4: The sigmoidal dose response model (Hill equation) parameters for the twenty most common cancer types and overall cancer risk
* up means increased risk; down means decreased risk with increasing alcohol consumption. & absent: no clear increase or decrease in cancer risk observed +not applicable: the (relative lack of) data did not allow a model fit logEC50: alcohol consumption level (g/day) at which 50% of the effect is reached R2: variation explained by the model