New Study Links Alchohol to BC Recurrance

hlya

Saw this thread in another forum:

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http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/SABCS/17444

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/713692

* Here are a few highlights, first from the medpage article:

Women whose alcohol consumption was defined as moderate-to-heavy (at least 6 g of alcohol a day, or at least three to four drinks per week) were at elevated risk of both breast cancer recurrence (HR 1.34, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.82) and death from breast cancer (HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.28) compared with those who drank no more than 0.5 g per day.

The increased risk of recurrence was highest for women who drank two or more glasses of wine a day, while there was no significant risk increase among those who consumed less than three drinks overall per week.

Postmenopausal breast cancer survivors were particularly at risk from moderate to heavy drinking (HR 1.51 versus 1.24 for premenopausal, P=0.03 for trend), as were overweight and obese women (HR 1.58 versus 1.09 for normal weight, P=0.03 for trend).

The researchers cautioned that further prospective studies are needed to confirm the findings.

...The new results could be consistent with counseling breast cancer patients that "one glass of wine may be okay, but keep it at that," Peppercorn said, though he cautioned against overinterpreting the observational data. (Note: Dr. Peppercorn was not involved with the study)

Peppercorn additionally warned about the barely significant overall hazard ratios and the limitations of self-reporting alcohol intake.

The study could not determine causality, and false associations due to confounding from other factors were possible, he noted.

* And second, from the medscape article:

Clinicians need to provide a "nuanced message" about alcohol consumption to women with early-stage breast cancer, said a presenter here at the 32nd Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The message needs to be nuanced because, as a new study presented here showed, light consumption (fewer than 3 drinks per week) did not increase the risk for breast cancer recurrence in early-stage disease.

However, moderate to heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages (3 or 4 drinks per week, or more) was associated with a 1.3-fold increased risk for breast cancer recurrence and a 1.5-fold increase in breast cancer deaths, according to the study.

These results must be weighed against past research that shows that "moderate alcohol consumption" decreases the risk for cardiovascular disease, said epidemiologist Michelle D. Holmes, MD, DrPH, from Harvard University in Boston.

"Many women live a long time with early breast cancer, and alcohol consumption may decrease the risk of heart disease [during that time]," said Dr. Holmes, who acted as a discussant of the study on alcohol use and breast cancer disease recurrence.

Dr. Holmes also noted that the new study did not show that alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk for death from all causes.

Among the group that drank 3 or 4 drinks per week, or more, the increased risk for recurrence was pronounced in postmenopausal (hazard ratio [HR], 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20 - 2.54) and overweight/obese (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.07 - 2.35) women.

Dr. Kwan said that, on the basis of these findings, "women previously diagnosed with breast cancer should consider limiting their consumption of alcohol to less than 3 drinks per week, especially women who are postmenopausal and overweight or obese."

Dr. Holmes agreed that obese women with breast cancer should be careful about drinking alcohol and that they might have "particularly bad" survival outcomes if they do.