The study focuses on France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, Germany, Denmark and the UK. Madlen Schutze, lead researcher Alcohol linked to risk of cancer and study author, from the German Institute of Human Nutrition, said that many cancer cases could be avoided if alcohol consumption was limited.
"And even more cancer cases would be prevented if people reduced their alcohol intake to below recommended guidelines or stopped drinking alcohol at all," she said.
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said that many people do not know that drinking alcohol can increase their cancer risk. "In the last ten years, mouth cancer has become much more common and one reason for this could be because of higher levels of drinking - as this study reflects.
"Along with being a non-smoker and keeping a healthy bodyweight, cutting back on alcohol is one of the most important ways of lowering your cancer risk." Cutting back And Ed Yong, from Cancer Research UK, warned of the dangers posed by consuming even small amounts of alcohol.
"The more people drink the higher their risk of cancer becomes so even light or moderate levels can increase the risks to some extent, but heavier drinking will increase it even more," he said.
He added that increased drinking in the general population could lead to a "higher cancer burden in the future" unless people took steps to reduce their alcohol consumption.
Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at World Cancer Research Fund, said that the research adds weight to what we already know about the link between alcohol consumption and cancer.
"The WCRF recommends that if people are to drink alcohol they should not consume more than two drinks a day for men or one a day for women.
"The German study underlines the importance of not exceeding these limits," said Dr Thompson.BBC