A new prospective study presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium has found that alcohol consumption is associated with increased breast cancer recurrence and death among breast cancer survivors. The study included 1,898 early stage female breast cancer survivors (aged 18 to 70 at diagnosis) in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) Cancer Registry. The women were diagnosed between 1997 and 2000 with early stage primary breast cancer and completed treatment and entered the cohort two years post-diagnosis, on average. Recurrence was categorized as local, regional, and distant disease, new contralateral (opposite breast) cancers, and breast cancer death in cases where death occurred but no previous recurrence had been recorded. As of October 21, 2008, 275 breast cancer recurrences and 232 deaths (from any cause) were confirmed. The follow-up period for each woman began at date of entry into the study and ended at date of first confirmed cancer recurrence or date of death.

Compared to little or no alcohol consumption (less than or equal to 0.5 grams per day), consuming at least six grams of alcohol per day was found to be associated with an increased risk of recurrence. Among those who consumed any alcohol (half of the study cohort), most drank wine (90%), followed by liquor (43%) and beer (36%). The elevated risk was found mainly among wine drinkers who had at least two servings per day compared to no alcohol intake. Overall, moderate to heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (at least three to four drinks per week) was associated with a 1.3-fold increased risk of recurrence. The increased risk of recurrence was found to be greater among postmenopausal women and women with estrogen receptor negative (ER-) disease. The authors conclude that breast cancer survivors should consider limiting their alcohol intake to fewer than three drinks per week, especially women who are postmenopausal and overweight or obese.

Study extends previous findings that alcohol increases risk of breast cancer

Numerous previous studies have reported that alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of breast cancer. This study adds to these findings by uncovering an association between moderate drinking and risk of breast cancer recurrence. In light of the finding that even as few as three glasses of wine per week can increase the risk of recurrence, previous published guidelines indicating that one drink per day is safe for women should be revised. Other studies have found that red wine, in particular, is not protective against breast cancer, despite its high fraction of resveratrol and other polyphenols that have been shown to counteract the development of breast cancer.