Consuming even modest amounts of alcohol sharply increases the risk of mouth cancer, with researchers finding that there is no safe threshold for intake, according to an India-based study published in BMJ Global Health.
The research shows that drinking as little as nine grams of alcohol a day, less than a standard drink, raises the risk of buccal mucosa (mouth) cancer by nearly 50 per cent. The danger escalates dramatically to 87 per cent among those consuming locally brewed liquor, often produced without regulatory oversight.
The study was conducted by researchers from Navi Mumbai’s Centre for Cancer Epidemiology in collaboration with other Indian institutions and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), France. It analysed data from 1,803 patients diagnosed with mouth cancer and 1,903 healthy individuals across five centres in India between 2010 and 2021.
Sixty-two per cent of the cancer cases examined were linked to alcohol consumption combined with chewing tobacco. Alcohol alone was estimated to account for 11.3 per cent of mouth cancer cases nationwide, with the figure rising to nearly 14 per cent in high-burden states such as Meghalaya, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
“The findings show nine grams per day of alcohol increased the risk of (buccal mucosa cancer) by approximately 50 per cent, and 62 per cent of cases could be attributed to alcohol drinking and chewing tobacco, with an overall (population attributable fraction) of 11.3 per cent for India,” the authors wrote.
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The researchers reported that alcohol consumers faced a 68 per cent higher overall risk of mouth cancer, which climbed to 72 per cent among drinkers of internationally recognised alcoholic beverages. The highest risk was associated with locally brewed alcohol, which may contain contaminants such as methanol and acetaldehyde.
Possible contamination with toxins, such as methanol and acetaldehyde, in locally brewed alcohol, might help explain the higher risk associated with the drinks, manufacture of which is largely unregulated, the team suggested.
Most participants were aged between 35 and 54, though nearly half of the cancer cases were recorded among individuals aged 25 to 45. Even minimal consumption, under two grams of beer per day, was linked to increased cancer risk.
“In summary, our study demonstrates that there is no safe limit of alcohol consumption for (mouth cancer) risk,” the authors said.
“Our findings suggest that public health action towards prevention of alcohol and tobacco use could largely eliminate (buccal mucosa cancer) from India,” they added.
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