Oncology Publications
Title
Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Breast Cancer among BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2010
Journal
The Breast
Volume
19
Issue
6
First Page
479
Last Page
483
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.breast.2010.05.009
Abstract
Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer among women in the general population, but its effect on women who carry a BRCA gene mutation is unclear. We conducted a case-control study of 1925 matched pairs of predominantly premenopausal women who carry a BRCA1 or a BRCA2 mutation. Information on current alcohol consumption was obtained from a questionnaire administered during the course of genetic counselling or at the time of enrolment. A modest inverse association between breast cancer and reported current alcohol consumption was observed among women with a BRCA1 mutation (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.96), but not among women with a BRCA2 mutation (OR = 1.00; 95% CI 0.71-1.41). Compared to non-drinkers, exclusive consumption of wine was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of breast cancer among BRCA1 carriers (p-trend = 0.01). Alcohol consumption does not appear to increase breast cancer risk in women carrying a BRCA gene mutation.
