In February 2007, the Monograph Working Group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) concluded that there was “sufficient evidence” for the carcinogenicity of ethanol in animals and classified alcoholic beverages as carcinogenic to humans. Specifically, the group confirmed or newly established the causal link between alcohol consumption and the following malignant neoplasm categories: oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectal, and female breast cancer ([59]; see Table 2). However, the working group also confirmed a lack of carcinogenicity of alcoholic beverages for renal-cell cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. For stomach and lung cancer, the verdict was that carcinogenicity was possible but not established, while evidence on causality between alcohol consumption and risks of other types of cancer was sparse or inconsistent (these results are summarized in Table 2). All cancers showed evidence of a dose-response relationship (shown in Table 3).
