alcohol use and ILC

kap24
kap24 Member Posts: 44

Hi Ladies,

 Was wondering if any of you have seen the latest study on alcohol use and BC? I apologize in advance for not tagging it here.

 Anyway, it goes on to report that there is a higher risk for ilc from alcohol consumption,. The study appears to be quite narrow as it only targets post menopausal women age 65+.

Not sure about the rest of you but it seems everytime I turn around something is reported only to be rebutted in the future.

Comments

  • Neece
    Neece Member Posts: 270
    edited September 2010

    Yes I read that. It does make you wonder. I admit since my dx last year I have greatly reduced my wine intake - a VERY occasional glass now - not that i drank a whole lot before, but I just didn't think about it much. I don't understand why it affects ILC not IDC and neither do the researchers it seems.

  • Kathy044
    Kathy044 Member Posts: 433
    edited September 2010

    I only have perhaps 12 drinks per year and that's if we travel, otherwise wine at holiday dinners and that's it. I never took hormone replacement either, which previously has been reported to increase risk of ILC too, so when I was diagnosed at age 65 I placed the blame squarely on my own estrogen production.

    ETA link:  http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/new_research/20100824b.jsp

    Alcohol's Breast Cancer Risk Traced to Subtypes

    See also abstract:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19850989 (mentions WHI study referred to in story above).

    Hormone Replacement Therapy and the Increase in the Incidence of Invasive Lobular Cancer
    Ravdin PM.

    Abstract: Individual epidemiologic studies and a meta-analysis of those studies suggest that the relative risk of invasive lobular and compared to invasive ductal cancer is particularly affected by combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in postmenopausal women, with an approximate doubling of risk of invasive lobular breast cancer in current users. However, this was not seen in the Women's Health Initiative trial comparing combined HRT and placebo, although this trial had only modest statistical power to demonstrate the effect. In the absence of some obvious source of bias (screening mammography rates were well balanced between HRT users and non-users in most studies), this evidence supports the hypothesis that combined HRT increases the risk of lobular breast cancer.

  • cathmg
    cathmg Member Posts: 278
    edited September 2010

    Hi,

    I noticed the link on this website and checked it out, as I like to have 3-4 drinks a week. There didn't appear to be anything noted about recurrence, just initial risk in developing breast cancer. So does alcohol pose the same risk for ILC recurrence? I have asked my onc, and he feels that alcohol in moderation (3 drinks a week) is fine. I still worry, though. Yet, I hate to deprive myself of one of life's little pleasures. I agree that there are contradictory study results all the time. It makes me skeptical of any one absolute statement. I'm thinking of the study that showed increased consumption of vegetables didn't reduce recurrence rates. And the study that eventually showed that support groups didn't reduce  rates of recurrence, refuting a previous study.

    Frustrating, isn't it?

    I'd be interested in hearing what other folks' oncologists have to say about it.

    Best,

    Catherine

  • manatee64
    manatee64 Member Posts: 20
    edited October 2010

    I was recently diagnosed with ILC and am having surgery next week.

    My surgeon looked at me hard when she asked how much I drank and I said, "rarely".  She wanted to know how much/how often.  Now i know why - this study.  

    I drink maybe 8-10 glasses of wine a year, widely spaced and normally one glass.  I've never been a daily drinker, regular drinker, or been a binge drinker.

    So I think there is no correlation at all between my ILC and alcohol consumption.

  • karenjaninaz
    karenjaninaz Member Posts: 6
    edited August 2013

    I haven't had a drink at all in 23 years. Diagnosed at age 67 but had 8 years HRT/plus trying "bio-identicals"

    I had 3 tumors. Nothing showed on mammo, one showed on ultrasound the second on MRI. Decided on bilat mast/recon. In lab a different type of CA(tubular) was found in the "good' breast although absolutely was not visible on any diagnostic test.

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