A new advisory from the Surgeon General’s office last week warned of a direct link between alcohol consumption and an increased risk of seven types of cancer, including breast, colorectal, and esophageal cancer.

NJ Spotlight News spoke with several New Jersey health experts about the announcement and its possible impact.

“We’ve known for a long time that alcohol pickles the liver. People know about cirrhosis,” said Dr. Nicole Henry-Dindial, second vice president of the Medical Society of New Jersey. “But it turns out it pickles every organ.”

Added  Dr. Bonnie Qin, a cancer epidemiologist at Rutgers: “We know the more alcohol a person drinks, the higher the risk of these cancers. I think what the public should know is that even moderate amounts, one drink a day or fewer, can still increase the risk of cancer.”

The Surgeon General’s office is calling for new preventive steps, including increased awareness and a warning label affixed to containers of alcoholic beverages informing customers about the increased risk of drinking. Alcoholic products have contained a warning since 1988 outlining the risks of drinking while pregnant, and health experts say a cancer warning would lead to more informed decision-making.

“I really think that this is similar to elevating alcohol to the risk factor, or the risk status, that we associate with tobacco,” said Dr. Jamie Koprivnikar, an oncologist at the John Theurer Cancer Center in Hackensack. “Plenty of Americans will happily ignore the warning, but I do think there is probably a segment of the population that will heed that message on the bottle.”

According to the Surgeon General, an estimated 100,000 Americans are diagnosed with cancer each year related to alcohol consumption, and 20,000 Americans die because of alcohol-related cancer.