Mouth cancer has become a major public health problem in India, and new research suggests that alcohol plays a much bigger role than many people realize.
A large long-term study published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health has found that even very low levels of daily alcohol consumption are linked to a sharply higher risk of developing mouth cancer.
The study shows that drinking just one standard drink a day can significantly increase risk, especially when alcohol use is combined with chewing tobacco.
Mouth cancer is currently the second most common cancer in India. Each year, more than 140,000 people are newly diagnosed, and nearly 80,000 die from the disease. The most common type affects the soft pink tissue lining the inside of the cheeks and lips, known as the buccal mucosa.
Despite advances in medical care, survival remains poor. Fewer than half of patients live five years or longer after diagnosis. Researchers report that mouth cancer rates in Indian men have steadily risen over time and are now close to 15 cases per 100,000.
Alcohol and tobacco use are both widespread in India, and they often occur together. This has made it difficult for scientists to understand how much each factor contributes on its own to cancer risk.
Chewing tobacco, in particular, is very common and has long been known to increase the risk of mouth cancer. However, the role of alcohol, especially locally brewed alcohol, has received far less attention until now.
To better understand these risks, researchers compared 1,803 people diagnosed with buccal mucosa cancer with 1,903 people who did not have the disease. Participants were recruited from five different centers across India between 2010 and 2021.
Most people in the study were between the ages of 35 and 54, although nearly half of the cancer cases occurred in younger adults aged 25 to 45. This highlights how early in life the disease can strike.
Participants were asked detailed questions about their drinking habits, including how often they drank, how long they had been drinking, and what types of alcohol they consumed.
The researchers looked at both internationally recognized alcoholic drinks such as beer, whisky, vodka, rum, and flavored beverages, as well as a wide range of locally brewed drinks. These local drinks included varieties such as mahua, desi daru, apong, bangla, and chulli, which are commonly consumed in rural areas.
The study also collected detailed information about tobacco use, including how long participants had used tobacco and whether they chewed or smoked it. This allowed researchers to examine how alcohol and tobacco interact to affect cancer risk.
The findings were striking. Compared with people who did not drink alcohol at all, those who drank had a 68 percent higher risk of developing mouth cancer. The risk was even higher among people who consumed locally brewed alcohol, reaching nearly 87 percent.
Those who drank internationally recognized alcoholic beverages also faced elevated risk, but to a slightly lesser degree.
Importantly, the study found no safe level of alcohol consumption. Even people who drank less than 2 grams of alcohol per day showed an increased risk of mouth cancer.
Drinking around 9 grams of alcohol per day, roughly the amount in one standard drink, was associated with about a 50 percent higher risk. This challenges the common belief that light drinking is harmless.
The most severe effects were seen when alcohol use occurred alongside chewing tobacco. People exposed to both had more than four times the risk of developing mouth cancer compared with those who used neither. Based on their analysis, researchers estimate that this combination alone may account for 62 percent of all buccal mucosa cancer cases in India.
The researchers believe alcohol may make the mouth more vulnerable to cancer-causing substances found in tobacco. Alcohol can change the structure of the lining inside the mouth, making it easier for harmful chemicals to pass through and damage cells. This effect appears to occur regardless of how long a person has used tobacco.
The study also raises concerns about locally brewed alcohol, which is largely unregulated in India. Some locally made drinks may contain very high alcohol levels and harmful contaminants such as methanol and acetaldehyde. These substances are known to damage tissues and may further increase cancer risk.
Overall, the researchers estimate that more than one in ten mouth cancer cases in India can be attributed to alcohol use alone. In states with especially high rates of mouth cancer, this figure rises even higher.
The researchers conclude that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption when it comes to mouth cancer risk. They emphasize that strong public health measures to reduce both alcohol and tobacco use could prevent the majority of these cancers.
Their findings suggest that addressing these habits together could dramatically reduce suffering and save tens of thousands of lives each year.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and berry that can prevent cancer, diabetes, and obesity.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
Copyright © 2026 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
