Study Confirms Link Between Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer
Posted on: Monday, 14 April 2008, 12:00 CDT
A large study conducted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has found an increased risk of breast cancer among women who consume alcohol.
The research found that women who had one to two small drinks a day were 32 percent more likely to develop a hormone-sensitive tumor, the type most common in postmenopausal women. Three or more drinks a day raised the risk by 51 per cent.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in women, following lung cancer. Worldwide, about 1.2 million people will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and 500,000 will die from the disease. About 70 percent of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have tumors that are positive for both the estrogen and progesterone receptors.
The NCI study included an analysis of data from more than 184,000 women, and is the largest of three significant studies showing a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer in older women, according to Jasmine Lew, the study’s lead researcher.
"Regardless of the type of alcohol, the risk was evident," said Lew, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute, who was presenting the findings at a meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Lew told the Associated Press the study’s results support the theory that alcohol's interference with estrogen metabolism raises the risk of cancer.
Public health recommendations are premature at this point, she said, but advised that women should talk with their doctors to assess risk factors and consider lifestyle changes.
Other studies have linked light consumption of alcoholic drinks, especially red wine, to heart protection.
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On the Net:
U.S. National Cancer Institute
American Association for Cancer Research
Source: redOrbit Staff and Wire Reports
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