According to a new study, alcohol consumption by women before or after being diagnosed of breast cancer has no impact on their survival from the disease, reports Medical Xpress.
Previous studies have shown risk of developing breast cancer with the consumption of alcohol, but a new study counters that alcohol has no impact on breast cancer survival. The study found that women who moderately consumed alcohol before and after diagnosis had a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Polly Newcomb, Ph.D., a member of the Public Health Sciences Division and head of the Cancer Prevention Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, led the study, assured women diagnosed of breast cancer to be relieved of the past experience of consuming alcohol as it does not impact the survival from the disease. "This study also provides additional support for the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption with respect to cardiovascular disease," she added.
For the study, researchers included 23,000 women from the Collaborative Breast Cancer Study, a National Cancer Institute-sponsored, multi-site, population-based study, to analyze the risk factors for breast cancer. The study was started nearly 25 years ago, and a small group of participants were sent a questionnaire about their alcohol consumption habits after being diagnosed of breast cancer. Nearly 5,000 women from 1998 and 2001 had to write the amount of alcohol consumption in the questionnaire.
Researchers found that women who consumed the amount and type of alcohol over the years before being diagnosed of the disease were not likely to die from breast cancer. Notably, women who moderately consumed alcohol, 3-6 drinks per week, were 15 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than non-drinkers. Researchers did not note any benefits for consuming beer, spirits or higher levels of alcohol.
"It could be that the kind of breast cancer that is more likely to be diagnosed among women who drink may be more responsive to hormone-reduction therapies," Newcomb said.
Researchers found that alcohol consumption swayed the risk of breast cancer by increasing the levels of estrogen in pre and post menopausal women, says the report.
The findings of the study are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
