African-American women’s risk of breast cancer increased by alcohol—study

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Although alcohol consumption is already known to be a risk factor for the disease, the majority of previous studies have focused on white female participants.

For the new research, a team from the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center analyzed data for 22,338 women from the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) consortium, which combined data from four large breast cancer studies.

The team found that black women who drank seven or more alcoholic drinks per week had an increased risk of breast cancer across all subtypes, confirming a link which has also been found in white women.

In addition, they also found that women who previously drank alcohol—but later stopped—had lower risk than women who reported recently drinking alcohol, suggesting that women may be able to reduce their breast cancer risk by reducing their alcohol consumption.

However, the team also found that some women who had never drank at all had a significantly higher risk of breast cancer. The researchers suggested that it could be because the group of participants that avoids alcohol sometimes includes women who have other health conditions—and it is these health conditions which can increase risk for breast cancer.

The researchers added that the findings are important as although some breast cancer risk factors, such as age or genetics, are not easily changed, alcohol consumption is one risk factor that women, regardless of race, can be modified to potentially lower the risk of cancer.

The findings can be found published online in the journal Cancer, Epidemology, Biomarkers & Prevention journal. KI

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