Drinking moderate levels of alcohol significantly increases a person's risk of developing mouth and throat cancer, new data has revealed, prompting calls for people to limit themselves to two standard drinks per day.

Researchers from the Cancer Council and the University of Melbourne used data that tracked the drinking habits of 41,000 adults since the early 1990s.

They found that average lifetime consumption of four or more standard alcoholic drinks per day more than doubled the risk of mouth and throat cancer, compared with drinking no alcohol at all.

Long-term alcohol use causes about 3,000 cancers across Australia each year and about 350 deaths in Victoria, which is similar to the number of those who die from melanoma.

The Cancer Council of Victoria has warned Australians to stick to a two-drink maximum if they want to help reduce their cancer risk.

The council's Craig Sinclair said many people did not understand the risks of a lifetime of drinking.

"We've known for quite a while that alcohol is associated with a range of cancers, including bowel, breast, mouth and throat," Mr Sinclair said.

"What's compelling about this evidence is that when people choose to drink alcohol over a lifetime, even at moderate levels – we're talking about three to four standard drinks – it can more than double your risk of some cancers, in particular mouth and throat cancers."

A separate online poll by the Cancer Council found the majority of Victorians did not know what constituted one standard drink.

Only 13 per cent of respondents had an accurate understanding of the number of standard drinks in a bottle of wine.

The council said that lack of knowledge could lead people to underestimate the amount they drank, placing themselves at a higher risk.

"Many people don't realise that if they are choosing to drink alcohol at moderate or more significant levels, there is that direct link to cancer," Mr Sinclair said.

"We often think about alcohol at eye levels in terms of injury and violence, but certainly we're seeing very significant outcomes in terms of the numbers of cancers and the numbers of deaths that are occurring each year as a direct result of alcohol consumption."