Even 1 drink a day may raise risk of breast cancer

Drinking any type of alcohol -- beer, wine, liquor -- adds to woman's chance of getting disease, study finds

BARCELONA, Spain -- All types of alcohol -- wine, beer and liquor -- add equally to the risk of women developing breast cancer, U.S. researchers said Thursday.

Previous studies have shown a link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer, but there have been conflicting messages about whether some kinds of alcohol were more dangerous than others.

The researchers, led by Dr. Arthur Klatsky of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, Calif., revealed their findings at a conference in Barcelona.

Researchers analyzed the drinking habits of 70,033 women of various races from 1978 to 1985. By 2004, 2,829 had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Klatsky and his colleagues looked at which types of alcohol the women drank and their total alcohol intake. They compared it with that of women who had less than one drink a day.

They found no difference in the risk of developing breast cancer among women who drank wine, beer or liquor. Compared with light drinkers -- those who had less than one drink a day -- women who had one or two drinks a day increased their risk by 10 percent. Women who had more than three drinks a day raised their risk by 30 percent.

It is not clear how alcohol contributes to breast cancer, but some think it raises hormone levels in the blood to levels that could cause cancer.

Indianapolis Star

untill the exact mechanism is found the research can be just a speculation.

there is a possibility that not the alcohol itself but the life habits associated with heavy drinking (smoking, stress, drug abuse, lack of sleep, poor diet - generally not taking proper health care and abusing your body in every possible way) are all contributors in each case

They found no difference in the risk of developing breast cancer among women who drank wine, beer or liquor. Compared with light drinkers -- those who had less than one drink a day -- women who had one or two drinks a day increased their risk by 10 percent. Women who had more than three drinks a day raised their risk by 30 percent.

This is more than just lifestyle I would think.

Frankly, if a woman has a genetic predisposition to breast cancer anything that may be a risk factor should be avoided if possible. Although many types of breast cancer are treatable it can still kill. More than 40,000 women a year die from breast cancer, and it is probably higher than that as I suspect many women die from related issues but not the cancer itself.

i seem to remember reading before that one or two drinks a day is actually good for you and prevents more than one type of cancer. who knows.

Isn't this one of those 'everything gives you cancer' types of thing! We all have to die of something!

Guess I'm cancer free then! Haven't touched a drop in 8 years. You always hear stories like this though regarding 1 or 2 is good for you, then none is good for you, who knows what to believe...interesting study though.

Women with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer should heed these kinds of warnings. Better alive than dead is my philosophy.