Study: Drinking Doubles Risk When Close Relative Has Breast Cancer

Women with a close relative who had breast cancer may double their risk of developing the disease if they drink alcohol every day, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic.

But an increased risk of breast cancer attributable to alcohol consumption may be limited to the women with a family history of the disease, according to the study published in the journal Cancer.

Previous studies have linked alcohol consumption with the risk of developing breast cancer but this study is the first to show that women who drank daily and had a close blood relative with breast cancer were at greater risk than those without the familial connection.

Researchers examined 426 families with a history of breast cancer, including 9,032 women who were either blood relatives or had married into the patients' families. The women reported how much alcohol they drank on average throughout their lives as well as answered questions about other risk factors including hormone replacement therapy, smoking and exercise. Breast cancer was diagnosed in 558 of the women questioned.

Women who were first-degree relatives of the women with breast cancer and who drank alcohol daily had twice the increased risk of developing breast cancer of those who were first-degree relatives but did not drink alcoholic beverages.

Women who married into the family and therefore not blood relatives had no higher risk of breast cancer if they were daily drinkers than non-drinkers. Second-degree relatives had only a slightly higher risk of breast cancer if they drank alcohol daily.

Other sources: Cancer, Reuters