Effect of alcohol consumption on oncological treatment effectiveness and toxicity in patients with cancer

A systematic review and meta-analysis examined the current evidence regarding the potential effects of alcohol consumption during cancer treatments on both treatment effectiveness and toxicity, irrespective of cancer type.
A comprehensive literature search was performed across three electronic databases (Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane) covering studies from January 1990 to December 2023. Furthermore, a manual search based on the reference lists of the eligible studies was performed to identify additional potentially eligible studies. Studies were eligible if they involved cancer patients and provided data on alcohol consumption during specific oncological treatments, including its effect on treatment outcomes, or compared treatment effectiveness or toxicity between drinkers and non-drinkers.Out of 6,734 studies identified through searching, 38 met the inclusion criteria for pooled analyses. Alcohol consumption during radiotherapy, with or without concomitant chemotherapy, was associated with worse disease-free survival (pooled HR: 2.05; 95% CI: 1.09 – 3.89), although the numerically increased risk for locoregional recurrence did not reach statistical significance (pooled HR: 2.01; 95% CI: 0.76 – 5.36). The potential impact of alcohol consumption on chemotherapy-induced neurotoxicity and acute / delayed nausea was not statistically significant. However, alcohol consumption was associated with a lower risk of overall chemotherapy-induced nausea (OR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.84).
The authors state that their findings suggest that alcohol consumption may have a negative impact on radiotherapy, whereas its potential impact on the effectiveness of systemic oncological therapies (chemotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy and endocrine therapy) has not been adequately studied. Similarly, the current evidence on the potential association between alcohol consumption and treatment-related toxicities is weak, highlighting the need for well-designed prospective studies on this topic.
Source: Fountoukidis G, Schiza A, Smith D. et al. (2025) Effect of alcohol consumption on oncological treatment effectiveness and toxicity in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cancer, 25:246. doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13694-z