Estimated cancer burden attributable to the alcohol consumption in Poland in 2016

Abstract

Introduction. Alcohol exposure is a highly preventable cancer risk factor. European Code Against Cancer recommends to reduce alcohol intake of any type in order to decrease cancer risk. Poles have drunk more and more alcohol, reaching the average level of consumption at 9.55 liters of pure alcohol per capita in 2018. This phenomenon shows that alcohol consumption is constantly a great public health challenge in Poland.

Material and methods. Material in our study was an epidemiological data on cancer incidence in Poland sourced from the National Cancer Registry in Poland. Data on alcohol consumption comes from the State Agency for Prevention of Alcohol Related Problems survey conducted in Poland in 2002. Relative risks (RR) for alcohol consumption and cancer were sourced from the published studies. The alcohol attributable fraction (AAF) has been calculated with use of the formula provided in this work.

Results. Results of our study show that in Poland in 2016, about 4.6% (7252) of all cancer cases were related to the alcohol consumption: women – 3.4% (2599), men – 5.8% (4653).

Conclusions. In the face of epidemiological prognosis on increasing number of new cancer cases in Poland, there is a need to implement an immediate public health actions on reducing strong cancer risk factors such as alcohol consumption.