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Alcohol and Breast Cancer:
Facts & Information

by David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

For an overview of the relationship between alcohol and breast cancer, visit Alcohol and Breast Cancer, an interview with Dr. William Waddell, M.D.

Medical Reports on Alcohol and Breast Cancer

Folate, Alcohol & Breast Cancer Risk
A study of 17,000 women has found that women who consume about three drinks per day but take 200 micrograms of folate or folic acid (Vitamin B9) per day have a lower risk of breast cancer than do alcohol abstainers.

Folate, Alcohol, and Breast Cancer
Women who drink alcohol and have a high folate intake are not at increased risk of breast cancer compared to those who abstain from alcohol, according to an exhaustive review of the research evidence.

Breast Cancer and Folic Acid
Folic acid appears to offset the risk of breast cancer from alcohol among women who drink in moderation.

Moderate Drinking and Breast Cancer
Moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages appears to have little effect on women’s risk for breast cancer according to research at the Centre for Alcohol Research at the National Institute for Public Health in Denmark.

Alcohol and Breast Cancer
New data from the ongoing Framingham study indicate that alcohol consumption does not increase the risk of breast cancer.

Alcohol and breast cancer in the elderly
By the age of 80, breast cancer will affect 8.8 of every 100 women. One drink a day raises the risk about one percentage point.

Published Resources on Alcohol and Breast Cancer

Adami H.-O., et al. Cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer in young women. British Journal of Cancer. 1988; 58:832-837.

Bailey, L.B. Folate, methyl-related nutrients, alcohol and the MTHFR 677C -->T polymorphous affect cancer risk: intake recommendations. Journal of Nutrition, 2003, 133, 37485-37535.

Bowlin S. J., Leske M. C., Varma A., Nasca P., Weinstein A., Caplan L. Breast cancer risk and alcohol consumption: results from a large case-control study. International Journal of Cancer. 1997; 26:915-923.

van den Brandt P. A., Goldbohm R. A., van't Veer P. Alcohol and breast cancer: results from the Netherlands Cohort Study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1995; 141:907-915.

Ewertz M. Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk in Denmark. Cancer Causes Control. 1991; 2:247-252.

Freudenheim J. L., Marshall J. R., Graham S., et al. Lifetime alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer. Nutrition Cancer. 1995; 23:1-11.

Friedenreich C. M., Howe G. R., Miller A. B., Jain M.G. A cohort study of alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1993; 137:512-520.

Gapstur S. M., Potter J. D., Sellers T. A., Folsom A. R. Increased risk of breast cancer with alcohol consumption in postmenopausal women. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1992; 136:1221-1231.

Graham S., Zielezny M., Marshall, J. et al. Diet in the epidemiology of postmenopausal breast cancer in the New York State Cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1992; 136:1327-1337.

Hiatt R. A., Bawol R. D. Alcoholic beverage consumption and breast cancer incidence. American Journal of Epidemiology. 1984; 120:676-683.

Hiatt R. A., Klatsky A. L., Armstrong, M. A. Alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer in a prepaid health plan. Cancer Research. 1988; 48:2284-2287.

Holmberg L., Ohlander E. M., Byers T., et al. Diet and breast cancer risk: results from a population-based, case-control study in Sweden. Archives Internal Medicine. 1994; 154:1805-1811.

Holmberg L., Baron J. A., Byers T., et al. Alcohol intake and breast cancer risk: effect of exposure from 15 years of age. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers Prev. 1995; 4:843-847.

Katsouyanni K., Trichopoulou A., Stuver S., et al. Ethanol and breast cancer: an association that may be both confounded and causal. International Journal of Cancer. 1994; 58:356-361.

Lee M. G., Hill C., Kramar A., Flamant R. Alcoholic beverage consumption and breast cancer in a French case-control study. American Journal Epidemiology. 1984; 120:350-357.

Levi F., Pasche C., Lucchini F., La Vecchia C. Alcohol and breast cancer in the Swiss Canton of Vaud. European Journal of Cancer. 1996; 32A:2108- 2113.

Longnecker M. P. Alcoholic beverage consumption in relation to risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis and review. Cancer Causes Control. 1994; 5:73-82.

Longnecker M. P., Newcomb P. A., Mittendorf R., et al. Risk of breast cancer in relation to lifetime alcohol consumption. Journal of National Cancer Institute. 1995; 87:923-929.

Longnecker M.P., Paganini-Hill A., Ross R. K. Lifetime alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women in Los Angeles. Cancer Epidemiological Biomarkers Prev. 1995; 4:721-725.

Martin-Moreno J. M., Boyle P., Gorgojo L., et al. Alcoholic beverage consumption and risk of breast cancer in Spain. Cancer Causes Control. 1993; 4:345-353.

Mills P. K., Beeson W. L., Phillips, R. L., Fraser G. E. Dietary habits and breast cancer incidence among Seventh-Day Adventists. Cancer. 1989; 64:582-590.

O'Connell D. L., Hulka B. S., Chambless J. E., Wilkinson W. E., Deubner D. C. Cigarette smoking alcohol consumption, and breast cancer risk. Journal of National Cancer Institute. 1987; 78:229-234.

Petri, A.L., et al. Alcohol intake, type of beverage, and risk of cancer in pre- and postmenopausal women. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 2004, 28(7), 1084-1090.

Rosenberg L., Metzger L. S., Palmer J. R. Alcohol consumption and risk of breast cancer: a review of the epidemiologic evidence. Epidemiology Review. 1993; 15:133-144.

Rosenberg L., Slone D., Shapiro S., et al. Breast cancer and alcoholic-beverage consumption. Lancet. 1982; 1:267-271.

Schatzkin A., Carter C. L., Green S. B., et al. Is alcohol consumption related to breast cancer? Results from the Framingham Heart Study. Journal of National Cancer Institute. 1989; 81:31-35.

Smith-Warner S. A., Spiegelman D., Yaun S.-S., van den Brandt P. A., Folsom A. R., Goldbohm R. A., Graham S., Holmberg L., Howe G. R., Marshall J. R., Miller A. B., Potter J. D., Speizer F. E., Willett W. C., Wolk A., Hunter D. J. Alcohol and breast cancer in women: a pooled analysis of cohort studies. JAMA. 1998; 279:5335-5340.

Swanson C. A., Coates R. J., Malone K. E., et al. Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk among women under age 45 years. Epidemiology. 1997; 8:231-237.

Wellness Facts. Wellness Letter (School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley), 1999, 15(8), 1.

Willett W. C., Stampfer, M. J., Colditz, G. A., Rosner, B. A., Hennekens, C. H., Speizer, F. E. Moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 1987; 316:1174-1180.

 

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