Alcohol linked to breast cancer recurrence risk
Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol may raise the risk for breast cancer recurrence in some women.
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Drinking even moderate amounts of alcohol may raise the risk for breast cancer recurrence in some women. The association seems confined to former breast cancer patients who are postmenopausal or overweight or obese.
Studies examining the relation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer have been decidedly mixed. But a recent study reports that alcohol consumption appears to increase the risk for breast cancer recurrence.
To explore the potential relationship between alcohol drinking and breast cancer risk, researchers studied 1,897 women in California and Utah, who had been diagnosed about two or three years earlier with early-stage breast cancer. All the participants completed a dietary survey, indicating their routine consumption of wine, beer and/or liquor. Data regarding their BMI and age was collected.
It was found that participants who were postmenopausal or overweight/obese raised their risk for breast cancer recurrence by nearly 1.5 times if they regularly consumed a minimum of three to four drinks of any type of alcohol a week. Similarly, that group of women faced a 1.5 times higher risk of dying from breast cancer if they followed the same drinking patterns.
Just over half the women were considered drinkers. Nearly nine in 10 drank wine, more than 40 percent consumed liquor, and almost 36 percent drank beer. Over nearly seven and a half years of follow-up, 293 women experienced breast cancer recurrence, and 273 died from a variety of health complications.
Alcohol has been shown to increase estrogen metabolism and circulating estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, while being obese can also increase circulating sex hormones and insulin levels. In general, an overabundance of estrogen production can lead to breast cell proliferation and possible carcinogenic events in the breast tissue.
The findings show that drinking three to four alcoholic drinks per week increases the risk for developing primary breast cancer among overweight/obese and postmenopausal women. The study is important because of the guidance it can give to individuals living with breast cancer and their physicians and clinicians should advise their breast cancer patients to possibly limit their consumption of alcohol.
Studies examining the relation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer have been decidedly mixed. But a recent study reports that alcohol consumption appears to increase the risk for breast cancer recurrence.
To explore the potential relationship between alcohol drinking and breast cancer risk, researchers studied 1,897 women in California and Utah, who had been diagnosed about two or three years earlier with early-stage breast cancer. All the participants completed a dietary survey, indicating their routine consumption of wine, beer and/or liquor. Data regarding their BMI and age was collected.
It was found that participants who were postmenopausal or overweight/obese raised their risk for breast cancer recurrence by nearly 1.5 times if they regularly consumed a minimum of three to four drinks of any type of alcohol a week. Similarly, that group of women faced a 1.5 times higher risk of dying from breast cancer if they followed the same drinking patterns.
Just over half the women were considered drinkers. Nearly nine in 10 drank wine, more than 40 percent consumed liquor, and almost 36 percent drank beer. Over nearly seven and a half years of follow-up, 293 women experienced breast cancer recurrence, and 273 died from a variety of health complications.
Alcohol has been shown to increase estrogen metabolism and circulating estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, while being obese can also increase circulating sex hormones and insulin levels. In general, an overabundance of estrogen production can lead to breast cell proliferation and possible carcinogenic events in the breast tissue.
The findings show that drinking three to four alcoholic drinks per week increases the risk for developing primary breast cancer among overweight/obese and postmenopausal women. The study is important because of the guidance it can give to individuals living with breast cancer and their physicians and clinicians should advise their breast cancer patients to possibly limit their consumption of alcohol.
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