IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention Volume 20B: The IARC perspective on the effects of alcohol policies on reducing alcoholic beverage consumption

A Working Group of international experts was convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to review and assess all available evidence on the effectiveness of selected alcohol policies in reducing consumption of alcoholic beverages at the population level. Although alcoholic beverages were classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) several decades ago, no such evaluations had been performed so far.

A Special Report published today in The New England Journal of Medicine summarizes the studies reviewed and presents the conclusions of the Working Group. The detailed assessments will be published as Volume 20B of the IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention.

Gapstur SM, Mariosa D, Neamtiu L, Nethan ST, Rehm J, Huckle T, et al.
The IARC perspective on the effects of policies on reducing alcohol consumption
N Engl J Med. Published online 30 April 2025;
https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr2413289

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