Wine Information Council
october 2021
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Trajectories of alcohol consumption during life and the risk of developing breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Whether there are lifetime points of greater sensitivity to the deleterious effects of alcohol intake on the breasts remains inconclusive. OBJECTIVE: To compare the influence of distinctive trajectories of alcohol consumption throughout a woman's life on development of breast cancer (BC).

METHODS: 1278 confirmed invasive BC cases and matched (by age and residence) controls from the Epi-GEICAM study (Spain) were used. The novel group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify different alcohol consumption trajectories throughout women's lifetime.

RESULTS: Four alcohol trajectories were identified. The first comprised women (45%) with low alcohol consumption (/=15 g/day), never having a low alcohol consumption. Comparing with the first trajectory, the fourth doubled BC risk (OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.27, 3.77), followed by the third (OR 1.44; 0.96, 2.16) and ultimately by the second trajectory (OR 1.17; 0.86, 1.58). The magnitude of BC risk was greater in postmenopausal women, especially in those with underweight or normal weight. When alcohol consumption was independently examined at each life stage, >/=15 g/day of alcohol consumption in adolescence was strongly associated with BC risk followed by consumption in adulthood.

CONCLUSIONS: The greater the alcohol consumption accumulated throughout life, the greater the risk of BC, especially in postmenopausal women. Alcohol consumption during adolescence may particularly influence BC risk.

Additional Info

  • Authors

    Donat-Vargas C.; Guerrero-Zotano A.; Casas A.; Baena-Canada J. M.; Lope V.; Antolin S.; Garcia-Saenz J. A.; Bermejo B.; Munoz M.; Ramos M.; de Juan A.; Jara Sanchez C.; Sanchez-Rovira P.; Anton A.; Brunet J.; Gavila J.; Salvador J.; Arriola Arellano E.; Bezares S.; Fernandez de Larrea-Baz N.; Perez-Gomez B.; Martin M.; Pollan M.

  • Issue

    Br J Cancer . 2021 Oct;125(8):1168-1176

  • Published Date

    october 2021

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