Alcohol rehabilitation and abstinence reduce risk of alcohol-related cancers, study finds

Alcohol Rehabilitation Associated with Reduced Cancer RiskAlcohol Rehabilitation Associated with Reduced Cancer Risk A study by CAMH, Bordeaux University Hospital, and WHO has found that individuals with alcohol use disorder who undergo rehabilitation or maintain abstinence are significantly less likely to develop alcohol-related cancers. Study Highlights: * Analyzed data from over 24 million French adults. * Found that rehabilitation or abstinence significantly reduced the risk of cancer compared to alcohol dependence without treatment. * Effects were observed for all alcohol-attributable cancers, including liver and throat cancer. Significance: * Highlights the effectiveness of treatment interventions in reducing cancer risks associated with alcohol addiction. * Emphasizes the need for increased investment in rehabilitation and treatment services for alcohol use disorders. Experts’ Comments: * Dr. Jürgen Rehm: “We know that treatment for alcohol dependence is effective, but the magnitude of the effect in this study was surprising.” * Dr. Michaël Schwarzinger: “Alcohol dependence remains a silent epidemic in countries like France.” * Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges: “Increasing the accessibility of alcohol rehabilitation and abstinence interventions is crucial to reducing the risk of alcohol-related cancers.” Implications: * Highlights the importance of addressing alcohol dependence as a public health priority. * Calls for increased efforts to make treatment more accessible, including virtual programs. * Warns against potential increases in alcohol consumption due to increased availability and advocates for preventive measures.

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A new study conducted by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Bordeaux University Hospital, France, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that individuals with alcohol use disorder who undergo rehabilitation or maintain abstinence are significantly less likely to developing alcohol. -associated cancers. The article, titled Alcohol rehabilitation and cancer risk: a nationwide hospital cohort study in France was published today in Lancet Public Health. It is the largest of its kind to provide evidence linking reduced or discontinued alcohol consumption to a reduced risk of all alcohol-attributable cancers, including liver and throat cancer.

The nationwide retrospective cohort study analyzed data from more than 24 million French people, all adults living in mainland France and discharged from hospital between 2018 and 2021. The researchers found that about 6.3 percent of men and 1.6 percent of women had alcohol dependence, which was strongly associated with alcohol-related cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, esophageal and colorectal cancers, in both sexes. However, they also found that that rehabilitation treatment or a history of abstinence was associated with significantly lower risks compared to alcohol dependence without rehabilitation or abstinence. This underlines the effectiveness of treatment strategies in combating cancer risks associated with alcohol addiction.

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“The research team was surprised by the magnitude of the effect of treatment interventions in this study,” said Dr. Jürgen Rehm, senior scientist at CAMH’s Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and senior author of the study. “We know that treatment for alcohol dependence is effective, but the fact that alcohol dependence is a relapsing chronic disease often makes us forget that even in relapse, periods of abstinence significantly reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.”

“From a public health perspective, our study highlights a disturbing neglect of alcohol dependence compared to other health issues in both research and policy priorities,” added lead author of the paper Dr. Michaël Schwarzinger, Department of Prevention, Bordeaux University Hospital. “As a result, alcohol dependence remains a silent, terrible epidemic in countries like France, especially given that the average annual level of alcohol consumption among adults in that country is more than twice the global average.”

“We know that the most effective strategy to reduce the overall burden of harm caused by alcohol, including cancer, lies through population-level policies – measures such as increasing alcohol taxes, reducing the availability of alcohol and banning or limiting marketing,” said Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges, Regional Advisor on Alcohol, Illicit Drugs and Prison Health at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. “However, this study underlines that the response of healthcare systems is also crucial to reducing the risk of alcohol-related cancers. By increasing the accessibility of alcohol rehabilitation and abstinence interventions in healthcare, countries could do more to protect their populations from preventable cancers. We therefore call for increased investment in rehabilitation and treatment services for alcohol use disorders in France and other countries of the WHO European Region.”

Dr. Leslie Buckley, Head of Addictions at CAMH, emphasized the importance of these findings: “In Canada, hospital admissions for alcohol-attributable conditions exceed those for myocardial infarction, and many people face barriers to evidence-based treatment due to stigma and difficulties accessing personal care. Innovations such as virtual treatment can overcome these challenges by offering flexible and cost-effective solutions. At CAMH, we are researching fully virtual day programs that show promise and replicate traditional rehabilitation intensity without the need for physical infrastructure, reducing wait times and making treatment more accessible.

Given the looming increase in alcohol availability in Ontario, it is essential to consider how we can make treatment more accessible. Greater availability of alcohol will likely lead to increased consumption, and accessible virtual treatment programs could address this by providing critical care to those who need it.”

Reference: Hill C. Alcohol in France: room for improvement. The Lancet Public Health. 2024;9(7):e416-e417. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00124-5

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