Overview
- The BMJ Global Health analysis compared 1,803 buccal mucosa cancer cases with 1,903 controls across five Indian centers from 2010 to 2021.
- Any alcohol use was linked to a 68% higher risk versus non-drinkers, rising to 72% for international brands and 87% for locally brewed beverages.
- Drinking plus chewing tobacco more than quadrupled risk, with this combination estimated to account for about 62% of India’s mouth cancer cases.
- Alcohol alone was attributed to roughly 11.3–11.5% of cases nationally, with higher shares reported in high-burden states such as Meghalaya, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh.
- Authors report no safe consumption threshold and cite potential mechanisms including ethanol-driven mucosal permeability and contaminants like methanol and acetaldehyde in unregulated local liquor.