HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Doctors say drinking alcohol can increase the risk of developing at least seven types of cancer including throat, breast, liver and colon cancer, and though doctors say they’ve known about this risk for 20 to 30 years, it’s now getting a bigger push by the current surgeon general. Surgeon General calls for new label on drinks to warn Americans of alcohol’s cancer risk "Because this is the third-leading cause of things that we can kind of impact," said Dr. Jason Wilson, medical director for surgical oncology with Sentara Health on the Peninsula. "So, number one is smoking, number two is obesity and number three is alcohol." According to Wilson, there are four ways alcohol may impact cancer."One is the product that it breaks down to has been shown in animals to increase the risk of cancer," Wilson said. "For breast cancer, the thought is that alcohol may increase estrogen in the body, which can increase the risk of cancer. As people drink alcohol, it creates oxygen radicals that can increase inflammation."And fourth, cigarette smoke mixing with alcohol increases the level of carcinogens in your body. So it's better to choose a fresh air environment over a smoky bar. And while it's difficult to pinpoint any one cause of cancer, cutting down on any factors could help. A recent study looked at alcohol and breast cancer in women.“So for women that don't drink that are at average risk, taking everything else out, it's about 11% if you drink less than one drink a week," Wilson said. "If you go to one drink a day, it goes up to about 13% lifetime risk at developing breast cancer. And if you go to over two drinks a day, it gets up to 15%."He realizes drinking is an important part of socializing so he won't tell anyone to stop drinking altogether but "having that information so people can make an informed decision is really important." It's important to note that several factors contribute to how susceptible a person is to developing cancer, including family history, genetics and environment. Wilson thinks it might be worth adding a warning label to bottles if it'll increase awareness. For more information on alcohol and its link to cancer, go to https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/alcohol-cancer/index.html.