all forms of alcohol increase bc risk--STUDY looked at bc in general, not her2+

[Lani]

Kaiser Permanente Study Shows Alcohol Consumption — No Matter Beverage Type — Linked to Breast Cancer Risk: Red wine, white wine, beer and hard liquor present same risk [Kaiser Permanente]
Oakland, Calif. — One of the largest individual studies of the effects of alcohol on the risk of breast cancer shows that it makes no difference whether a woman drinks wine, beer or spirits (liquor). It is the alcohol itself (ethyl alcohol) and the quantity consumed that increases breast cancer risk. In fact, the increased breast cancer risk from drinking three or more alcoholic drinks a day is similar to the increased breast cancer risk from smoking a packet of cigarettes or more a day, according to Kaiser Permanente researchers Yan Li, MD, PhD and Arthur Klatsky, MD.
"Population studies have consistently linked drinking alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but until now there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an independent role played by the choice of beverage type," said Klatsky, who is presenting these findings on Sept. 27 at the European Cancer Conference (ECCO 14) in Barcelona, Spain.
Li, a Kaiser Permanente oncologist, Klatsky, an investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif., and their Kaiser Permanente colleagues studied the drinking habits of 70,033 multi-ethnic women who had supplied information during health examinations between 1978-1985. By 2004, 2,829 of these women were diagnosed with breast cancer. In one analysis, researchers compared the role of total alcohol intake among women who favored one type of drink over another with women who had no clear preference. In another analysis, researchers looked at the possible independent role of frequency of drinking each beverage type. Finally, they examined the role of total alcohol intake, comparing it with women who drank less than one alcoholic drink a day.
The study found there was no difference between wine, beer or spirits in the risk of developing breast cancer. Even when wine was divided into red and white, there was no difference. However, when researchers looked at the relationship between breast cancer risk and total alcohol intake, they found that women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day increased their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent compared with light drinkers who drank less than one drink a day. The risk of breast cancer increased by 30 percent in women who drank more than three drinks a day.
Results: were similar when researchers looked at groups stratified by age and ethnicity. "Statistical analyses limited to strata of wine preferrers, beer preferrers, spirits preferrers or non-preferrers each showed that heavier drinking - compared to light drinking - was related to breast cancer risk in each group. This strongly confirms the relation of ethyl alcohol to increased risk," said Klatsky.
"A 30 percent increased risk is not trivial. To put it into context, it is not much different from the increased risk associated with women taking estrogenic hormones. Incidentally, in previous research completed at Kaiser Permanente, we have found that smoking a pack of cigarettes or more per day is related to a similar (30 percent) increased risk of breast cancer," Klatsky said.
Although breast cancer incidence varies between populations and only a small proportion of women are heavy drinkers, Dr Klatsky said that a 30 percent increase in the relative risk of breast cancer from heavy drinking might translate into approximately an extra 5 percent of all women developing breast cancer as a result of their habit.
Other studies, including research from the same authors, have shown light-moderate alcohol drinking can protect against heart attacks, but Klatsky said that different mechanisms were probably at work.
"We think that the heart protection benefit from alcohol is real, and is probably derived largely from alcohol-induced higher HDL ('good') cholesterol, reduced blood clotting and reduced diabetes. None of these mechanisms are known to have anything to do with breast cancer. The possible but unproven additional coronary benefit from drinking wine (red or white) may be related to favorable drinking patterns common among wine drinkers or to the favorable traits of wine drinkers, as evidenced by other United States and Danish studies," Klatsky said.
Klatsky said that all medical advice needed to be personalized to the individual. "Our findings provide more evidence for why heavy drinkers should quit or cut down."
ABSTRACT: Wine, liquor, beer, and risk of breast cancer [European Cancer Organization]
Background: Drinking of alcoholic beverages has consistently been linked in population studies to increased risk of female breast cancer (BrCa), but data are relatively sparse about an independent role of choice of beverage type.
Materials and Methods: We did a cohort study of 70,033 women (59% white, 26% African-American, 10% Asian-American) who supplied information about demographics and habits at health examinations in 1978-85. Through 2004 BrCa was subsequently diagnosed in 2,829 women; the role of specific beverage types was studied among women taking more than one drink per month per month (n = 37,879 with 1,509 BrCa). We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, ethnicity, body mass index, education, and smoking, both with and without control for total alcohol. In one type of analysis women whose habits indicated a preponderant beverage choice were compared to women with no clear preference with these numbers: 10,570 wine (W), 3,783 liquor (L), 2,702 beer (B), and 20,824 no preference (N). In another type of analysis we examined the independent association of frequency (per day per week) of drinking each beverage type (W, L, B, and type of wine). Finally, we looked at the role of total alcohol (<1 drink/day referent) within beverage preference strata.
Results: Controlled for total alcohol, the RR's for comparison of preference groups to non-preferrers (N) were: W = 1.06 (0.94-1.20), L = 1.02 (0.87-1.21), and B = 1.02 (0.81-1.29). Also controlled for total alcohol, the RR's for frequency (per day per week) of the major types were: W = 1.02 (0.99-1.04), L = 1.01 (0.98-1.04), B = 1.01 (0.97-1.06). With wine type subsetted into red, white, etc., no disparities in BrCa risk were seen; e.g., for both red W and white W, RR per day per week = 1.01. For total alcohol (vs <1 drink per day) the RR of BrCa was 1.1 for women reporting 1-2 drinks/day and 1.3 for women reporting 3+ drinks/day (p for trend <0.001), with similar trends for total alcohol within the W, L, B, and N strata. All results were similar in subgroups stratified by age or ethnicity.
Conclusion: These data show the relation of alcohol intake to increased BrCa risk is independent of beverage choice, indicating that ethyl alcohol is the likely culprit.