My patients – and my family and friends – often ask me what they can do to reduce their risk of cancer. I’m an oncologist and a cancer epidemiologist, which means I investigate patterns and causes of cancers. As more people drink less, one question that has come up is whether casual drinking, or drinking alcohol infrequently, increases cancer risk.
The answer is “probably”, though at a very low level. Cancer risk is not binary: having one drink or smoking one cigarette will not cause cancer. In general, the more you’re exposed to a risk factor, the higher your likelihood of developing cancer.
