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Moderate wine consumption is not associated with an increased risk of dying from cancer. This is the result of a US study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York. For the investigation, the research team analyzed data from 26,694 participants in the long-term study "Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke" (Regards). This study is funded by the US National Institute of Health (NIH). The participants were observed for an average of 13.3 years, with some participants being followed for more than 20 years. The study was published in May 2026 in the journal Journal of General Internal Medicine.
In the study, moderate alcohol consumption was defined as four to seven alcoholic drinks per week for women and four to 14 drinks per week for men. Compared to abstainers, this group showed no increased risk of dying from cancer.
"We expected to observe a higher risk of cancer deaths among moderate consumers," said study leader Dr. Laura Pinheiro, associate professor of health research at Weill Cornell Medicine. "It was surprising that we found no significant association between moderate alcohol consumption and cancer mortality."
The analysis also found that people with low alcohol consumption – defined as a maximum of three drinks per week – had a lower risk of dying from cancer than those who did not drink alcohol. However, the scientists point out that among abstainers, there may be individuals who have refrained from alcohol due to existing health problems.
In contrast, a significantly increased risk was observed with heavy alcohol consumption. Women with at least eight drinks per week and men with at least 15 drinks per week had about a 57 percent higher risk of dying from cancer than moderate consumers. The authors emphasize that this is an observational study. Such studies can show associations but cannot prove cause-and-effect relationships.
Additionally, there was no information on cancer type, disease stage, treatment, or screenings of the deceased. Epidemiologist Dr. Erikka Loftfield from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Berghofer in Australia described this as an important limitation, especially regarding alcohol-associated cancers such as breast or colorectal cancer.
According to the researchers, the results underscore that cancer prevention should not be reduced to individual behaviors. Rather, the risk of cancer and cancer deaths is the result of an interplay of various factors such as diet, exercise, smoking, and general lifestyle habits.
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