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Original article Preventable cancer cases and deaths attributable to alcohol consumption in Korea from 2015 to 2030
Soseul Sung1,2orcid , Jihye An4orcid , Jeehi Jung5orcid , Hyeon Sook Lee6orcid , Sungji Moon1orcid , Inah Kim8orcid , Jung Eun Lee9orcid , Aesun Shin1,3orcid , Sun Ha Jee11orcid , Sun-Seog Kweon12orcid , Min-Ho Shin12orcid , Sangmin Park2orcid , Seung-Ho Ryu14orcid , Sun Young Yang15orcid , Seung Ho Choi15orcid , Jeongseon Kim16orcid , Sang-Wook Yi17orcid , Yoon-Jung Choi16orcid , Youjin Hong1,3orcid , Sangjun Lee1,3orcid , Woojin Lim1,2orcid , Kyungsik Kim1,3orcid , Sohee Park11orcid , Jeong-Soo Im18orcid , Hong Gwan Seo16,18orcid , Kwang-Pil Ko1,19orcid , Sue K. Park1,3orcid
Epidemiol Health 2025;e2025009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2025009 [Accepted]
Published online: February 27, 2025
1Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
2Department of Biomedical Sciences, Seoul National University Graduate School, Seoul, Korea
3Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
4Department of Epidemic Intelligence Service, Incheon Communicable Diseases Center, Incheon, Korea
5Department of Biomedicine & Health Science, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
6Incheon Public Health Policy Institute, Incheon, Korea
7Interdisciplinary Program in Cancer Biology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
8Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
9Department of Food and Nutrition, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
10Integrated Major in Innovative Medical Science, Seoul National University Graduate School, Seoul, Korea
11Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Institute for Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
12Department of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University Medical School, Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, Korea
13Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
14Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
15Department of Internal Medicine, Healthcare Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea
16Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
17Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, Korea
18Division of Cancer Registration and Surveillance, National Cancer Center, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
19Clinical Preventive Medicine Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea
Corresponding author:  Kwang-Pil Ko,
Sue K. Park,
Received: 24 July 2024   • Revised: 26 December 2024   • Accepted: 23 January 2025
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES
Alcohol consumption is causally linked to several cancers, and major health organizations classify it as a carcinogen. This study assessed the impact of alcohol consumption on cancer incidence and mortality in Korea in 2015 and 2020, projected trends up to 2030, and compared results based on different criteria.
METHODS
The relative risk of cancer associated with alcohol consumption in Korea was determined through a meta–analysis of alcohol–related relative risks for specific cancers, using primary data from the Korean Cohort Study within the Korean Cohort Consortium. The population–attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated using Levin's formula, incorporating drinking prevalence and the number of cancer cases and deaths, with a 15–year latency period assumed.
RESULTS
In Korea, the PAF for alcohol consumption, based on ever/never drinking criteria, was higher than that calculated using other criteria, except for the PAF based on past and current/never drinking criteria. Alcohol consumption contributed to 3.58% of all cancer cases and 3.28% of cancer deaths in 2015. It accounted for 4.58% of new cancer cases in men and 2.08% in women, with a higher contribution to incidence than mortality (4.00% and 2.25% of cancer deaths in men and women, respectively). Projections indicate that alcohol–related cancer PAF will decrease by 17.2% in men but increase by 70.2% in women by 2030.
CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the impact of alcohol consumption on cancer in Korea, emphasizing the need for sex–specific regulations to address sex differences.

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