Health Research

Sep 27 2007

Study: Alcohol Consumption – Regardless of Beverage Type – Linked to Breast Cancer Risk

The quantity of alcohol consumed, and not the type consumed, is an indicator of increased breast cancer risk in women, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers who presented their findings Sept. 27 at the European CanCer Organization’s annual conference.

In addition, the increased breast cancer risk from drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day is similar to the increased breast cancer risk from smoking a pack of cigarettes or more a day, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers Yan Li, MD, PhD and Arthur Klatsky, MD.
"Population studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but until now there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an independent role played by the choice of beverage type," said Klatsky, who presented the study to the ECCO conference in Barcelona, Spain.
For more, read this news release.