The J-shaped association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer: A case-control study
Background: Alcohol is considered to be a co-carcinogen as well as a tumor promoter, with several studies showing a linear dose-dependent association. However, moderate alcohol consumption has been found to be protective as far as cardiovascular diseases are concerned.
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of alcohol intake with breast cancer. Design: It is a case - control study. Patients: Two hundred and fifty consecutive newly (within six months) diagnosed breast cancer patients with first developed breast cancer (56±12 years) and 250 age-matched controls were studied.
Main Outcome Measures: A special questionnaire assessing various socio-demographic, clinical, lifestyle and dietary characteristics, was applied through face-to-face interviews. Moreover, frequency of alcohol intake (i.e., never, rarely, 3-4 times/month, 1-2 times/week, 3-4 times/week, daily) and type (i.e., red or white wine, beer, whisky, other beverages) of alcoholic beverages consumed were also recorded. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the MedDietScore (theoretical range 0-55).
Results: Alcohol drinking on a weekly basis (i.e., 3-4 times/week) was associated with lower likelihood of having breast cancer (OR=0.16; 95%CI 0.03, 0.80), while higher consumption showed opposite results. Moreover, it was revealed that wine drinking was associated with lower odds of breast cancer (OR=0.60; 95%CI 0.35, 1.00) with no significant differences between red or white wine.
Limitations: The major limitation of this study was the potential recall bias. Conclusions: Moderate alcohol intake, and especially wine consumption, seem to be associated with breast cancer prevention.
Additional Info
-
Authors
Mourouti N.; Kontogianni MD; psaltapoulou T; Plytzanopoulou P; Vassilakou T; Malamos N; Linos A; Panagiotakos DB -
Issue
Current Nutrition & Food Science, pages 120-127 / volume 10;2 -
Published Date
2014
Related items
- Association between drinking patterns and diabetic kidney disease in United States adults: a cross-sectional study based on data from NHANES 1999-2016
- Alcohol Intake, Drinking Pattern, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Three Prospective Cohorts of U.S. Women and Men
- Effect of moderate wine consumption on the activity of enzymes involved in Platelet Activating Factor metabolism and thrombotic biomarkers: A randomized, single-blind, parallel, clinical study in coronary heart disease men patients
- Healthy lifestyle factors and combined macrovascular and microvascular events in diabetes patients with high cardiovascular risk: results from ADVANCE
- Association between alcohol consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus across different body mass index categories among Japanese workers