Three drinks a week linked to raised breast risk
Wednesday November 2nd, 2011
Drinking a small amount of alcohol is linked to a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer, according to new findings.
Many previous
studies have linked alcohol to breast cancer risk, but the risk from lower
levels of consumption is unclear, say Dr Wendy Chen of Harvard Medical
School, Boston, USA, and colleagues in the Journal of the American Medical
Association.
They wanted to explore the role of drinking patterns throughout adult life. So the team looked at figures on 105,986 women who were taking part in the Nurses' Health from 1980 to 2008.
Analysis showed that increasing alcohol consumption was linked to increased breast cancer risk. The risk started to rise significantly at an alcohol intake of just five to ten grams per day, the equivalent of three to six glasses of wine per week. At this intake, the risk of breast cancer was 15 per cent higher than for no alcohol.
The risk for women who drank at least 30 grams of alcohol per day, or at least two drinks per day, was raised by 51 per cent.
Results also showed that binge drinking was linked to breast cancer risk, as was alcohol consumption both earlier, at 18 years of age, and later, at 40 years and above.
The authors say that the exact mechanism for the link is unknown, but it may be due to alcohol's effects on oestrogen levels. They write: "Our results highlight the importance of considering lifetime exposure when evaluating the effect of alcohol on the carcinogenesis process."
In an editorial, Dr Steven Narod of the Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, Canada, calls for an exploration of the risk-benefit relationships between alcohol consumption and all-cause disease and mortality rates.
Chen, W. Y. et al. Moderate Alcohol Consumption During Adult Life, Drinking Patterns, and Breast Cancer Risk. The Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 306, November 2, 2011, pp. 1884-90.
Narod, S. A. Alcohol and Risk of Breast Cancer. The Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 306, November 2, 2011, pp. 1920-21.
Tags: Cancer | Drug and Alcohol Abuse | North America | Women’s Health & Gynaecology
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