European Journal of Cancer
Volume 45, Issue 5 , Pages 843-850, March 2009

Wine, liquor, beer and risk of breast cancer in a large population☆

  • Yan Li

      Affiliations

    • Oncology Department, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, 280 West Macarthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611, United States
    • ,
  • David Baer

      Affiliations

    • Oncology Department, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, 280 West Macarthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611, United States
    • ,
  • Gary D. Friedman

      Affiliations

    • Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 2000 Broadway, 280 West Macarthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611, United States
    • ,
  • Natalia Udaltsova

      Affiliations

    • Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 2000 Broadway, 280 West Macarthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611, United States
    • ,
  • Veronica Shim

      Affiliations

    • The Surgery Department, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Oakland, CA, United States
    • ,
  • Arthur L. Klatsky

      Affiliations

    • Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 2000 Broadway, 280 West Macarthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94611, United States
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author: Tel.: +1 510 752 6538; fax: +1 510 752 7345.

Received 5 July 2008; received in revised form 28 October 2008; accepted 5 November 2008. published online 17 December 2008.

Abstract 

Population studies show a relation of alcohol drinking to an increased risk of breast cancer (BrCa). Aiming to investigate uncertainties about a risk threshold, the role of beverage type and interactions with other BrCa predictors, we performed a cohort study among 70,033 women, 2829 of whom developed BrCa. Using Cox proportional hazards models with 8 covariates, the following relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for BrCa versus lifelong abstainers were found: 1.08 (0.95–1.22) at <1 drink per day, 1.21 (1.05–1.40, p=0.01) at 1–2 drinks daily and 1.38 (1.13–1.68, p=0.002) at ⩾3 drinks daily. Increased BrCa risk was concentrated in women with oestrogen receptor positive tumours with no major disparity related to choice of wine, liquor, beer or type of wine (red, white, etc). We conclude that with a threshold below 1–2 drinks daily, a hormone-related mechanism mediates a relation of alcohol drinking to an increased BrCa risk.

Keywords: Breast cancer, Alcohol drinking, Wine, Beer, Risk factors, Epidemiology

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☆ Grant Support: This study was supported by a grant from the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute. Data collection from 1978 to 1985 were supported by a grant from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation, Baltimore, MD.

PII: S0959-8049(08)00903-9

doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2008.11.001

European Journal of Cancer
Volume 45, Issue 5 , Pages 843-850, March 2009

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