Even Light Drinking Raises Breast Cancer Risk

Posted by Misti Crane-The Columbus Dispatch on December 4th, 2011

Posted Nov 2, 2011

Light drinking can increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study released this afternoon.

The information comes from the Nurses' Health Study, which followed nearly 106,000 women from 1980 until 2008.

The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer already is established. But this large study shows a link between lighter drinking -- levels that many women have been told will help their hearts -- and increased risk of the disease.

The research appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

For women who had one drink a day, the risk was about 1.2 times higher than expected and their 10-year risk increased from 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent. For women who drank two or more drinks a day, the risk was about 1.5 times higher, corroborating previous research linking higher consumption with breast cancer.

Even as experts welcome more data on the connection between alcohol and breast cancer, they caution that the study isn't enough to drastically change the advice doctors give women, particularly considering the cardiovascular benefits of light drinking.

Furthermore, the study provides no evidence that quitting drinking will do a lighter drinker any good.

"An individual will need to weigh the modest risks of light to moderate alcohol use on breast cancer development against the beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease to make the best personal choice," the study authors wrote.