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Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing oral cavity and esophagus cancers, according to a special report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. But more data are needed to conclude whether the same is true for several other cancer types, including colorectal, breast, and liver cancer.

Even so, it is likely that reducing or ceasing to drink alcohol will lessen the risk of these cancers, said Farhad Islami, a cancer epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society and an author of the report. “Given that many of these cancers have similar mechanistic pathways, we think we will see a similar association with reduction or cessation,” he said. “That’s why we recommend more studies, so we can have stronger evidence.”

Over the last couple of decades, studies have strongly established that consuming alcohol does raise the risk that people will develop several cancers, including breast, colorectal, liver, oral, esophageal, and more, Islami said. “That’s already established,” he said. “But we wanted to know, what if people stop drinking?”