Study Examines Alcohol and Breast Cancer Risk

Alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of ER-positive (estrogen receptor-positive), but not ER-negative breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Many epidemiologic studies have found an association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk, but it has not been known whether this risk varies by hormone receptor type. Dr. Alicja Wolk of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues evaluated data on alcohol consumption collected from 1987 to 1990 and again in 1997 from 51,847 postmenopausal women in the population-based Swedish Mammography Cohort. By mid-2004, 1,188 breast cancer patients were identified.

Alcohol consumption was associated with an increased risk of ER-positive tumors, regardless of progesterone receptor (PR) status, but there was no association with ER-negative tumors. The absolute rate of ER-positive breast cancer was 232 cases per 100,000 person-years among women in the highest category of alcohol consumption compared with 158 per 100,000 person-years among women in the lowest category. The researchers also observed an interaction between alcohol intake and the use of postmenopausal hormones on the risk of ER-positive/PR-positive tumors.

SOURCE:
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, November 2, 2005

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