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Reduced alcohol consumption during adolescence may decrease breast cancer risk
Berkey CS. Cancer. 2011;epub ahead of print.
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Girls with a family history of breast cancer may help to reduce their risk for the disease by limiting their alcohol intake during adolescence, according to data from the Growing Up Today Study.
In the study, the researchers sought to identify preventive behaviors that could modify risk for benign breast disease, a known risk factor for breast cancer. The study included girls aged 9 to 15 years who completed annual questionnaires from 1996 to 2001, with 2-year follow-up for the next 6 years.
In the initial surveys, girls provided information about height, BMI, menarche and alcohol consumption. During later questionnaires, they reported if they had ever been diagnosed with benign breast disease.
Among the study population, only 67 of 6,741 reported having had benign breast disease.
Analyses indicated that girls who had mothers or aunts with breast cancer had more than twice the odds of being diagnosed with benign breast cancer (OR=2.34; P=.01). In addition, girls whose mothers had benign breast disease were at increased risk for a similar diagnosis (OR=1.59; P=.095).
The researchers found an association between alcohol consumption and risk for benign breast disease.
Girls who had a family history of breast cancer and consumed more than seven drinks per week had a twofold increased risk for benign breast disease (OR=2.28; P=.01), leading the researchers to conclude that “girls with a family history [of breast cancer] may reduce their own risk by avoiding alcohol intake during adolescence.”
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This study by Dr. Berkey and colleagues adds further support to the notion that early factors in childhood and adolescent years can influence breast cancer risk. This was the first comprehensive large-scale study of its type in which nearly 7,000 girls aged 9 to 15 years — who were daughters of participants of Harvard’s Nurses Health Study — were enrolled and followed more than 11 years. Biopsy-confirmed benign breast disease was the main measure, as this has been shown to correlate with breast cancer risk. Girls with a history of breast cancer in their mother and aunts had over a twofold risk of benign breast disease if they consumed about one alcoholic drink per day. BMI, adult weight circumference and height also were risk factors. This study extends the time window of “modifiable risk” into a younger age — possibly beginning in childhood and teen years — and supports efforts to begin educational and lifestyle intervention programs at a much earlier age, particularly in those with a family history of breast cancer. However, at this point, it is difficult to estimate the magnitude of breast cancer preventive effect of such strategies given the indirect outcome measures available so far.
Debasish “Debu” Tripathy, MD
HemOnc Today Editorial Board member
Disclosure: Dr. Tripathy did not report any relevant financial disclosures.
Earn CME this spring at the HemOnc Today Breast Cancer Review & Perspective meeting to be held March 23-24, 2012 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. See details at HemOncTodayBreastCancer.com.
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