By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Dec 8, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Drinking alcohol prior to diagnosis with breast cancer can increase the risk of recurrence and mortality, according to a study scheduled to be published in International Journal of Cancer.

The study led by M. Holm from Danish Cancer Society Research Center in Copenhagen, Denmark and colleagues shows that breast cancer patients who used more than two units per day at baseline were 65 percent more likely to have recurrence during a 6-year follow-up than those who used less than one unit per day.

Alcohol consumption has been known to increase risk of breast cancer.  In fact, alcoholic beverages have been recognized by the National Toxicology Program as a human carcinogen, that is, drinking alcohol can increase cancer risk.

After analysing data from 1,052 women diagnosed with early breast cancer who were part of a prospective cohort of 29,875 women, researchers also found those drinking alcohol for more than 40 years were 100% more likely to have recurrence, compared with those drinking alcohol for less than 10 years.

Additionally, drinking alcohol increased risk of death from breast cancer.

Breast cancer is diaignosed in more than 230,000 American women and kills about 37,000 each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Breast cancer in many cases are preventable.  There are many things women can do or cannot do to help reduce the risk.   Two most important things women need by all means avoid are hormone replacement therapy and radiation used in diagnostic procedures such as mammogram screening and cancer treatment, according to an authoritative organization.