Drinking alcohol raises cancer risk

(WSYR-TV) -- Smoking often gets the attention, but new research shows alcohol is one of leading causes of preventable cancer deaths in the U.S. And, you don’t have to be a heavy drinker to raise your cancer risk.

A new study shows that about 20,000 cancer deaths in the U.S. a year -- about 3.5 percent of all cancer-related deaths -- are caused by alcohol consumption.

Researchers determined that alcohol-related cancer death took away an average of 18 potential years from a person's life.

Average consumption for the group was 1.5 drinks a day or less, and those drinkers made up 30 percent of the reported deaths.

Larger amounts of alcohol led to higher risks of dying from cancer.

More than half of the deaths were attributed to people who drank three or more drinks a day.