New Evidence about Alcohol and Breast Cancer Link

A large study conducted over 24 years at Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, concluded that having three or more alcoholic drinks a day can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer by 30%. Those who drank one to two drinks per day had an increased breast cancer risk of 10%. Women who drank less than one drink per day showed no significant increased cancer risk.  According to researchers at Kaiser, the risk of heavy drinking is roughly equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day or taking estrogenic hormones well beyond the menopause.

Of the 70,033 multi-ethnic women who supplied information during their health exams between 1978 and 1985, roughly 3,000 of them had been diagnosed with breast cancer by 2004. It mattered not what type of alcohol was consumed – wine (red or white), beer, or spirits – the end result was the same. Results were similar for all ages and ethnicities. Heavier drinking was related to breast cancer risk in each group (classified by the type of alcohol consumed).

Breast cancer is known to vary between populations, and only a small proportion of women are heavy drinkers. However, women who are heavy drinkers may translate to an extra 5% of all U.S. women developing breast cancer due to this lifestyle factor. The study provides more evidence to influence women who are heavy drinkers to cut back or quit. Those with a strong family history of breast cancer should consider eliminating alcohol entirely or drinking only on special occasions.

Source:  Science Daily

Add comment September 28th, 2007