Alcohol-related liver and extrahepatic malignancies: burden of disease and socioeconomic disparities in 2019

Background Alcohol is linked to various cancers. While many studies have focused on developed countries, the burden of alcohol-related cancers in developing countries remains underexplored. Methods We analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (2000–2019) to assess mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from alcohol-related cancers in low and low-to-middle sociodemographic index (SDI) countries. Results In 2019, there were 494 730 mortality from alcohol-related cancer. Low and low-middle SDI countries contributed over 15% of global mortality of alcohol-related cancer. Among multiple types of cancer, other pharyngeal cancers in these countries accounted for over 30% of global mortality of alcohol-related cancer. Primary liver cancer exhibited the highest mortality (n = 16 090) in low and low-middle SDI countries. While deaths and DALYs rates from alcohol-related cancers decreased globally between 2000 and 2019, the related burden increased in low and low-middle SDI countries with a rise in all types of alcohol-related cancers, except for primary liver cancer. The most rapidly growing mortality rates in low SDI were from other pharyngeal cancers (+2.25%), whereas in low-middle SDI countries, colorectal cancer evidenced the highest increase (+2.76%). Conclusion The burden from alcohol-related cancer has risen in countries with low and low-to-middle SDI, especially other pharyngeal cancers and colorectal cancer. Policymakers should focus on improving alcohol-related policies as well as screening availability to tackle the associated burden of cancer in resource-constrained countries. However, the difficulty in isolating the impact of alcohol due to limited data on other confounders necessitates caution in interpreting these findings.