Alcohol and Breast Cancer: New Evidence of a Link

“You have breast cancer.”

No one wants to be the recipient of this unwelcome news, but the sad reality is that one in eight women will receive this diagnosis over the course of a lifetime. Although breast cancer rates have been declining in the past few years now that fewer women are choosing hormone replacement therapy, lifestyle still plays some role in determining breast cancer risk. Based on the results of a new study, one way you can reduce your risk of breast cancer, and cancer in general if you’re a woman, is to avoid drinking alcohol. It appears from these results that even small amounts of alcohol can raise cancer risk in women, including breast cancer.

According to this study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, drinking even a single alcoholic drink each day significantly raised cancer risk in a group of 1,280.296 middle-aged women who were followed for an average of 7.2 years. The researchers also looked specifically at breast cancer rates among women in this study and found that the incidence of breast cancer in these women rose significantly for each additional alcoholic drink they consumed on a daily basis.

The researchers reached the conclusion from this study that about thirteen percent of cancers in women overall may be attributed to use of alcohol, a disturbingly high statistic. Although it isn’t clear how alcohol raises breast cancer risk or cancer risk, alcoholic drinks can alter the way the liver metabolizes certain substances such as estrogen. It’s possible that drinking alcohol raises estrogen levels which has a stimulatory effect on breast tissue, thereby increasing the risk of cancer.

This isn’t the first study to show an association between alcohol and breast cancer risk. Several previous studies have reached a similar conclusion. This further suggests that women should avoid drinking alcohol if they’re concerned about their risk of breast cancer, or cancer in general. The researchers in this most recent study emphasized that there is no safe level of alcohol exposure when it comes to cancer. Even low levels of alcohol appear to raise breast cancer risk.

The conclusions of this study may pose a dilemma for some women who have read about the benefits of drinking wine for reducing heart disease risk. If you’re confused about whether you should avoid drinking alcohol despite the heart benefits, keep in mind that breast cancer is a more common cause of death among middle aged women than heart disease. Cardiovascular disease doesn’t become the number one killer until after the age of seventy-five in women. For this reason, if you’re in the middle years, it makes sense to avoid drinking alcohol unless you’re in a high risk group for heart disease. Keep in mind that there are lots of other lifestyle changes that can help to reduce your risk of heart disease without raising your risk of breast cancer.