New Study Links Alcohol To Risk of Breast Cancer

Alcohol consumption substantially increases the risk of breast cancer in women, according to a study by Harvard doctors which appeared in yesterday's issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

"We found that women consuming more than one drink of an alcoholic beverage per day experienced an approximately 50 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who drank occasionally or not at all," said Dr. Walter C. Willett, head author of the report and associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health.

"Even the consumption of one drink or less per day was associated with a risk of breast cancer approximately 30 percent higher than non-drinkers," he said.

The study, which began in 1980, lasted four years and questioned about 90,000 female registered nurses.

Women with a high risk for breast cancer may be the most affected by the implications of the research because alcohol may increase the risk even more, said Dr. Graham Colditz, who worked with Willett on the study. This high-risk group includes all women who are planning to have children after spending years in graduate school or a career as well as those with a family history of breast cancer.

Colditz added that it is immaterial what type of alcohol is consumed, as all can have the same effect. "The type of drink you have is not important," he said. "The quantity consumed seems to be the driving force."

While the subjects in the study which was funded by the National Institutes of Health varied in age from 34 to 59, the results also apply to women of other ages, Colditz said.

Although no new study is being conducted on college-age females at the moment, a follow-up questionnaire is being sent to participants in the 1980 study which focuses on their past diet since high school, including their alcohol consumption during that period.

Previous research has indicated that alcohol consumption reduces the risk of heart disease by reducing the amount of one type of cholesterol in the bloodstream. But with the results of the new study, Colditz said, "We're left with the trade-off."