By Jimmy Downs

Thursday April 11, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prevention suggests that women with early stage breast cancer who drink alcohol regularly may not have to face an increased risk of recurrence or death from the disease.

The U.S. National Toxicology Program has recognized alcoholic beverages as a human carcinogen and expousure to alcohol has been known to increase the risk of breast cancer and other malignancies.

The current study led by Marilyn L. Kwan from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, California and colleagues was intended to examine whether alchol consumption may worsen the prognosis of breast cancer.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on alcohol consumption from 9329 breast cancer patients in the After Breast Cancer Pooling Project in which patients were diganosed between 1990 and 2006 with AJCC State I-III breast cancer from three prospective US cohorts.

The researchers found women drinking euqal to or greater than 6.0 grams per day of alcohol were not at iuncreased risk of recurrence, compared with those drinking less than 0.36 grams per day.  Drinking 0.36 grams per day was considered as non-drinking.

However, drinking 12 to less than 24 grams of alcohol per day was associated with 12% increased risk of breast cancer, compared with non-drinking.  The researchers still consider there was no associaiton overall.

Also, postmenopausal women who drank equal to or greater than 6.0 grams of alcohol per day were found at 19% increased risk of recurrence, compared with those drinking less than .36 grams per day. 

Regardless, alcohol intake was found not associated with mortality, the researchers said.

It should be noted that mortality may be defined as death within five years of diagnosis.  This means that what happens five years after diagnosis remains unknown.  What about 10-year or 15-year survival rate?  The study did not provide data on that.

Take home message

Alcoholic beverages are human carcinogens.  Those who are at higher risk for breast cancer or other malignancies or already diagnosed with breast cancer may be better off not drinking alcohol as no research has proved that drinking alcohol has a zero negative effect of death risk from breast cancer.

Breast cancer in many cases is preventable.  The disease is expected to be diagnosed in more than 230,000 women each year in the United States and it kills about 37,000 women within five years of diagnosis.