Cancer cases attributable to alcohol consumption in Brazil

•This is the first study specifically estimating the proportion of new cancer cases that could be attributed to alcohol drinking in Brazil.•In the year 2012, alcohol drinking was responsible for 4.8% of all new cases in Brazil: 7.0% for men and 2.6% for women.•In Brazil, 21,000 cancer cases could have been prevented in 2012 by avoiding alcohol consumption.•Public health measures to prevent heavy alcohol use should be implemented in the country.

This is the first study specifically estimating the proportion of new cancer cases that could be attributable to alcohol consumption in the year 2012 in Brazil. The proportion of exposed cases and the association between alcohol and lip and oral cavity, nasopharynx, other pharynx, larynx, esophagus, colorectum, female breast, liver, and intrahepatic bile ducts cancers was based on data made available by the Integrator System of Hospital Cancer Registries. The cancer incidence was obtained from the estimates produced by GLOBOCAN. In 2012 there were 437,592 new cancer cases in Brazil, excluding non-melanoma skin cancers. Of these, alcohol consumption was responsible for 4.8% of all new cases. The alcohol-attributable fraction was higher for men (7.0%) than for women (2.6%). A total of 21,000 new cancer cases, 15,554 in men and 5,646 in women, could be attributable to alcohol consumption. In Brazil, a significant fraction of cancer cases can be attributed to alcohol consumption, and public health measures to prevent heavy alcohol use should be implemented.