Guidelines and recommendations

• We searched several national and international organisations, including WHO, CDC, and HSE, for related guidelines and recommendations.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) states that even light or moderate alcohol consumption can lead to the development of cancer.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated that consuming alcohol increases the risk of various types of cancer.
• The Health Service Executive (HSE) states that drinking alcohol is linked to several kinds of cancer.

The Evidence

• We looked for studies to find out whether or not drinking alcohol causes cancer.
• We found several relevant systematic reviews carried out in the last five years. Some were high quality, and some were medium-to-low quality reviews. However, it is important to note that sometimes even a high quality review can have low quality studies in it.
• One systematic review explored the link between light alcohol drinking and the risk of cancer. The systematic review looked at a type of study that follows people over time called a cohort study. These studies reported that very light or light alcohol drinking can cause breast cancer in women and cancer of the colon/large intestine in men.
• We identified three systematic reviews on cancer of the colon/ large intestine....