--- title: The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is ‘Strong,’ One Expert Warns description: In a commentary piece, a researchers looks at the existing research and concludes that drinking alcohol is linked to 7 kinds of cancer canonical: https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-22T15:01:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:28:12.573Z article:section: Health og:title: The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is ‘Strong,’ One Expert Warns og:description: In a commentary piece, a researchers looks at the existing research and concludes that drinking alcohol is linked to 7 kinds of cancer og:url: https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5984eddca735db/69889edc428a9e542dcd38c5/alcohol-cancer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Alcohol and cancer review og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is ‘Strong,’ One Expert Warns twitter:description: In a commentary piece, a researchers looks at the existing research and concludes that drinking alcohol is linked to 7 kinds of cancer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5984eddca735db/69889edc428a9e542dcd38c5/alcohol-cancer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is 'Strong,' One Expert Warns > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2016 3:01 PM UTC  Empty bottles of alcohol, as a review concluded that there is strong evidence that alcohol causes seven types of cancer and probably others. Empty bottles of alcohol, as a review concluded that there is strong evidence that alcohol causes seven types of cancer and probably others. PA Images/Sipa USA  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jul 22, 2016 3:01 PM UTC In a commentary section of the [journal _Addiction_ called “For Debate,”](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13477/full) a New Zealand researcher warns that alcohol has been strongly linked to at least seven different types of cancer. Jennie Connor, an epidemiologist and the author of the commentary, reviewed epidemiological and biological research on alcohol and cancer and concludes that the evidence is strong that alcohol consumption is a cause of cancer. [Breast](http://time.com/4349231/here-are-the-things-women-can-do-to-avoid-breast-cancer/?iid=sr-link2), [colon](http://time.com/4192816/colon-cancer-rates-50/?iid=sr-link1) and liver cancer were among the types of cancer caused by alcohol, according to her analysis. She notes that the precise effect may be somewhat stronger or weaker than found in existing studies, but the fundamental relationship between the substance and disease holds true. The paper is the latest in a [string of research](http://time.com/4002182/drinking-alcohol-cancer/?iid=sr-link1) to [show a link](http://healthland.time.com/2009/12/10/alcohol-may-increase-risk-of-breast-cancer-recurrence/?iid=sr-link4) between alcohol consumption and cancer. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/"},"headline":"The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is 'Strong,' One Expert Warns","datePublished":"2016-07-22T15:01:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:28:12.573Z","description":"In a commentary piece, a researchers looks at the existing research and concludes that drinking alcohol is linked to 7 kinds of cancer","url":"https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/","keywords":["Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5984eddca735db/69889edc428a9e542dcd38c5/alcohol-cancer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6d5984eddca735db/69889edc428a9e542dcd38c5/alcohol-cancer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Alcohol and cancer review","caption":"Alcohol and cancer review","creditText":"PA Images/Sipa USA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4418877/alcohol-cancer-link/","name":"The Alcohol-Cancer Link Is 'Strong,' One Expert Warns"}}]}] ```