To the Editors: Drs. Friedman, Oestreicher, Chan and their associates, in reviewing the possible link between antibiotics and breast cancer, have noted their “review suggested that acne and/or rosacea could be the underlying factor” linking the two disorders (1).

At a recent Harvard and McGill–sponsored symposium entitled “Milk, Hormones and Human Health,” the link between hormones in milk and the triad of acne vulgaris, breast cancer, and prostate cancer (all hormone-responsive tissues) was seen to be gradually strengthening.1

1

Pollak M. Milk, hormones, and human health. Oct 23-25, 2006, Boston, Massachusetts. Proceedings of the Workshop. In preparation.

With this as background, it is noted that although “hormone use was taken into account” in this study, the hormones present in dairy products consumed were not part of that assessment. This is understandable, with the recent link in the dermatology literature between acne and dairy consumption having been only recently published (2-4).

Whereas no data have yet been published to link acne rosacea and dairy, the subject is being actively considered and Friedman et al. provide data from the first large population to suggest this intriguing possibility.

Further work in this field must consider intake of dairy hormones as the most likely source of the “uncontrolled confounding” the authors cite. Indeed, what is seen as uncontrolled confounding by Friedman et al. may be, in effect, indirect confirmation of the postulated androgenic hormonal link between acne, breast cancer, and dairy product consumption.

1
Friedman GD, Oestreicher N, Chan J, Quesenberry CP, Jr., Udaltsova N, Habel LA. Antibiotics and risk of breast cancer: up to 9 years of follow-up of 2.1 million women.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
 
2006
;
15
:
2102
–6.
2
Adebamowo CA, Spiegelman D, Danby FW, Frazier AL, Willett WC, Holmes MD. High school dietary dairy intake and teenage acne.
J Am Acad Dermatol
 
2005
;
52
:
207
–14.
3
Adebamowo CA, Spiegelman D, Berkey CS, et al. Milk consumption and acne in adolescent girls.
Dermatol Online J
 
2006
;
12
:
1
.
4
Danby FW. Acne and milk, the diet myth, and beyond.
J Am Acad Dermatol
 
2005
;
52
:
360
–2.
American Association for Cancer Research
2007