"Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States - greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. - yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk," Murthy said in a statement.
"In 2019, an estimated 96,730 cancer cases were related to alcohol consumption including 42,400 in men and 54,330 in women. This translates to nearly 1 million preventable cancer cases over ten years in the U.S.," the advisory reads.
The surgeon general writes that a link between alcohol and cancer was first discovered in the 1980s with evidence supporting that connection continuing to grow through the decades.
Studies have found that alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde, a cancer-causing compound in the body, and can also alter hormone levels like estrogen which can increase one's risk for breast cancer.
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