New Delhi, April 8 -- Alcohol, whether consumed regularly or only on special occasions, takes a toll on your body. From your brain and heart, to your lungs and muscles, to your gastrointestinal and immune systems, alcohol has broad harmful effects on your health - including causing cancer.

Alcohol is the third-leading preventable cause of cancer in the U.S., responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually. In comparison, alcohol-related vehicle crashes cause around 13,500 deaths each year in the U.S.

As early as the 1980s, researchers suspected that alcohol can cause cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that alcohol is causally linked to cancer of the oral cavity, throat, voice box, esophagus, liver...