$50K Grant Funds New Screening and Support Initiative in Cancer Care for Alcohol Use

Reducing alcohol use can lower the risk of at least seven types of cancer and improve outcomes for people with cancer, according to the U.S. Surgeon General in 2025. Head and neck cancers are especially linked to alcohol use with up to a 40% higher risk for people who consume one alcoholic drink a day. 

However, current or past alcohol use is not recorded in medical reports for nearly half of the patients with head and neck cancers at the KU Cancer Center (KUCC). This makes it more difficult for providers and researchers to identify risks and needs for support.

Michael Amlung, Associate Director for Training at the Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment at the KU Life Span Institute, is working to address this issue with a $50K pilot grant from the KUCC. 

“The link between alcohol misuse and head and neck cancer is well-established, and this project is an important first step to improving comprehensive screening for alcohol use in KUCC patients,” Amlung noted. “I am especially excited to be leading this interdisciplinary team of experts in addictions, behavioral medicine, and head and neck surgery from the Cofrin Logan Center and the KU Medical Center.” 

Amlung and his collaborators plan to improve screening and care through the development of a consistent method to ask head and neck cancer patients about their use of alcohol. They will also work with patients and providers to develop brief counseling and referral programs for alcohol problems at KUCC. 

The initial focus of this project is on patients with head and neck cancers, but lessons learned from this research may have broader application to other types of cancer with known alcohol-related risks, according to the grant proposal. 

Amlung said that he hopes that the work will build a stronger system for identifying and addressing alcohol use in cancer care. Ultimately, this may reduce cancer risk and improve outcomes.