Alcohol intake and breast cancer risk among young women

Abstract

Introduction: Alcohol intake has been consistently associated with breast cancer risk, 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 risk varied by type of alcoholic drinks in 1,728 newly diagnosed population-based breast cancer patients and 435 control subjects aged 20-49 years. We used multivariable logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) as measures of the 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 this five year period was associated with an 82% increase in breast cancer risk relative to never drinkers (OR = 1.82, 95% CI = 1.01-3.28). No risk increase was observed for alcohol intake at ages 15-20 years or for lifetime alcohol intake. Risk did not vary by type of alcohol consumed.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that recent alcohol consumption may be associated with increased breast cancer risk in young women.