Alcohol intake and breast cancer risk among women younger than 50 years Free

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Introduction. Alcohol intake has been consistently associated with risk of breast cancer, but the importance of timing of intake and the impact of beverage type are unclear.

Methods. We evaluated whether early, lifetime or recent alcohol intake was associated with breast cancer risk, and whether there were any differences in the effect of types of alcoholic drinks in 1,728 population-based breast cancer patients and 435 control subjects aged 20 to 49 years. We used multivariable logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) as measures of relative risk of breast cancer associated with intake of alcoholic drinks.

Results. Intake of alcoholic drinks during the recent five year period before the breast cancer diagnosis was associated with increased breast cancer risk(P_trend = 0.04). Intake of two or more alcoholic drinks per day during the five year period was associated with 82% increased breast cancer risk as compared to never drinkers (OR=1.82, 95% CI =1.01 - 3.28). The association was stronger in nulliparous than parous women. No risk increase was observed for alcohol intake at age 15-20 yrs or lifetime alcohol intake. Although we found the highest ORs associated with daily beer and liquor drinkers, there was no statistically significant difference in effect between the types of alcohol consumed. Conclusion. Our results suggest that recent alcohol consumption may be associated with increased breast cancer risk in young women.

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