Alcohol and breast cancer

The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer has been a subject of much research. It has long been considered a risk factor for breast cancer in women.[1][2][3] The International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared that there is sufficient scientific evidence to classify alcoholic beverages a Group 1 carcinogen that causes breast cancer in women.[4] Group 1 carcinogens are the substances with the clearest scientific evidence that they cause cancer, such as smoking tobacco.

A woman drinking an average of two units of alcohol per day has 8% higher risk of developing breast cancer than a woman who drinks an average of one unit of alcohol per day.[5] A study of more than 1,280,000 middle-aged British women concluded that for every additional drink regularly consumed per day, the incidence of breast cancer increases by 1.1%.[6] Approximately 6% (between 3.2% and 8.8%) of breast cancers reported in the UK each year could be prevented if drinking was reduced to a very low level (i.e. less than 1 unit/week).[5]

Among women, breast cancer comprises 60% of alcohol-attributable cancers.[7]

A study of 17,647 nurses found that high drinking levels more than doubled risk of breast cancer with 2% increase risk for each additional drink per week consumed. Binge drinking of 4–5 drinks increases the risk by 55%.[8]

Mechanism

Mastectomy specimen containing a very large cancer of the breast (in this case, an invasive ductal carcinoma).

The mechanisms of increased breast cancer risk by alcohol may be:

Their magnitude likely depends on the amount of alcohol consumed.[9]

Susceptibility to the breast cancer risk of alcohol may also be increased by other dietary factors, (e.g. folate deficiency), lifestyle habits (including use of hormone replacement therapy), or biological characteristics (e.g. as hormone receptor expression in tumor cells).[9]

In daughters of drinking mothers

Studies suggest that drinking alcohol during pregnancy may affect the likelihood of breast cancer in daughters. "For women who are pregnant, ingestion of alcohol, even in moderation, may lead to elevated circulating oestradiol levels, either through a reduction of melatonin or some other mechanism. This may then affect the developing mammary tissue such that the lifetime risk of breast cancer is raised in their daughters."[10]

Moderate drinking

Moderate alcohol consumption has also been found to increase the breast cancer risk.[11]

One of the largest studies of its kind has found that alcohol is a substantial risk factor for development of the most common type of breast cancer - the 70% of tumors that are classified as positive for both the estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER+/PR+). Researchers report that even moderate alcohol consumption, defined as one or two drinks per day, increased risk of developing this kind of cancer, and the more a woman drank, the higher her risk. Compared to women who did not drink at all, women who had three or more glasses of alcohol daily had as much as a 51% increased risk of ER+/PR+ breast cancer.[12]

In contrast, research by the Danish National Institute for Public Health, comprising 13,074 women aged 20 to 91 years, found that moderate drinking had virtually no effect on breast cancer risk.[13]

Recurrence

A meta analysis of cohort studies of alcohol consumption and breast cancer mortality showed no association between alcohol consumption before or after breast cancer diagnosis and recurrence after treatment.[14]

In men

In men, breast cancer is rare, with an incidence of fewer than one case per 100,000 men.[15] Population studies have returned mixed results about excessive consumption of alcohol as a risk factor. One study suggests that alcohol consumption may increase risk at a rate of 16% per 10g daily alcohol consumption.[16] Others have shown no effect at all, though these studies had small populations of alcoholics.[17]

References

  1. ↑ "What Are the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?". American Cancer Society. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  2. ↑ Room, R; Babor, T; Rehm, J (2005). "Alcohol and public health". The Lancet 365 (9458): 519–30. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)17870-2. PMID 15705462.
  3. ↑ Hayes, James (November 2013). "Mr". IMJ 43 (11): 1198–1204. doi:10.1111/imj.12256. PMID 23910051. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Alcohol consumption and ethyl carbamate International Agency for Research on Cancer Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2007: Lyon, France) ISBN 9789283212966
  5. 1 2 Non-Technical Summary Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food Consumer Products and the Environment (COC)
  6. ↑ Allen NE, Beral V, Casabonne D; et al. (March 2009). "Moderate alcohol intake and cancer incidence in women". Journal of the National Cancer Institute 101 (5): 296–305. doi:10.1093/jnci/djn514. PMID 19244173.
  7. ↑ Boffetta, Paolo; Hashibe, Mia; La Vecchia, Carlo; Zatonski, Witold; Rehm, Jürgen (23 March 2006). "The burden of cancer attributable to alcohol drinking". International Journal of Cancer (Wiley-Liss, Inc) 119 (4): 884–887. doi:10.1002/ijc.21903. PMID 16557583. Retrieved 9 October 2006.
  8. ↑ Mørch LS, Johansen D, Thygesen LC; et al. (December 2007). "Alcohol drinking, consumption patterns and breast cancer among Danish nurses: a cohort study". European Journal of Public Health 17 (6): 624–9. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckm036. PMID 17442702.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Singletary KW, Gapstur SM (2001). "Alcohol and breast cancer: review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence and potential mechanisms". JAMA 286 (17): 2143–51. doi:10.1001/jama.286.17.2143. PMID 11694156.
  10. ↑ Stevens RG, Hilakivi-Clarke L (2001). "Alcohol exposure in utero and breast cancer risk later in life". Alcohol and Alcoholism 36 (3): 276–7. doi:10.1093/alcalc/36.3.276. PMID 11373268.
  11. ↑ Zhang SM, Lee IM, Manson JE, Cook NR, Willett WC, Buring JE (March 2007). "Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk in the Women's Health Study". Am J Epidemiol 165 (6): 667–76. doi:10.1093/aje/kwk054. PMID 17204515.
  12. ↑ How What and How Much We Eat (And Drink) Affects Our Risk of Cancer
  13. ↑ Petri AL, Tjønneland A, Gamborg M; et al. (July 2004). "Alcohol intake, type of beverage, and risk of breast cancer in pre- and postmenopausal women". Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 28 (7): 1084–90. doi:10.1097/01.ALC.0000130812.85638.E1. PMID 15252295.
  14. ↑ Alcohol Consumption and Breast Cancer Survival: A Meta- analysis of Cohort Studies, Asia Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 5 Feb 2016
  15. ↑ Male Breast Cancer
  16. ↑ Guénel, P.; Cyr, D.; Sabroe, S.; Lynge, E.; Merletti, F.; Ahrens, W.; Baumgardt-Elms, C.; Ménégoz, F.; Olsson, H.; Paulsen, S.; Simonato, L.; Wingren, G. (Aug 2004). "Alcohol drinking may increase risk of breast cancer in men: a European population-based case-control study". Cancer causes & control : CCC 15 (6): 571–580. doi:10.1023/B:CACO.0000036154.18162.43. ISSN 0957-5243. PMID 15280636.
  17. ↑ Brinton, A.; Richesson, A.; Gierach, L.; Lacey Jr, R.; Park, Y.; Hollenbeck, R.; Schatzkin, A. (Oct 2008). "Prospective evaluation of risk factors for male breast cancer". Journal of the National Cancer Institute 100 (20): 1477–1481. doi:10.1093/jnci/djn329. ISSN 0027-8874. PMC 2720728. PMID 18840816.

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