Alcohol may influence breast cancer recurrence

Among women who survive early-stage breast cancer, some who make a habit of having a few drinks per week could face a greater risk of a recurrence than survivors who abstain, a new study suggests.

The study, which followed 1,900 women treated for early-stage breast cancer, found that while the large majority did not suffer a recurrence over the next seven years, the risk was relatively greater among those who said they had at least three or four alcoholic drinks per week - particularly if they were older or obese.

Compared with abstainers, the drinkers overall were 35 percent more likely to have a recurrence and 51 percent more likely to die of breast cancer during the study period.

The findings, reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, add to a conflicting body of research into whether moderate drinking may shorten the lives of women with a history of breast cancer.

They also point to a rather complex relationship between alcohol intake and breast cancer survivors' long-term prognosis.

When the researchers divided the women into subgroups, they found that moderate drinking showed a stronger relationship with the risk of recurrence and breast cancer death among postmenopausal women (51 percent increased risk), compared with younger women.

And when the study patients were separated according to body weight, the link was stronger among overweight and obese women (60 percent increased risk), versus those with normal weights.

What's more, drinking habits were not linked to the women's overall death rate during the study period - only their death rate from breast cancer.

That finding, researchers say, might reflect the fact that moderate drinking may reduce the risk of heart disease, the number-one killer of U.S. women.

So what should a woman with a history of early-stage breast cancer do?

"The most important advice I can give a breast cancer patient is to talk with their clinician about any lifestyle changes they are considering after being diagnosed with breast cancer," said study leader Dr. Marilyn L. Kwan, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California.

"She can then fully evaluate the risks and benefits of consuming alcohol, and at what amount," Kwan told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

She noted that the results cannot be generalized to women treated for more advanced cancer since the study did not include such patients.

The findings are based on 1,897 women treated for early breast cancer who were followed for just over seven years. During that time, 293 women had a cancer recurrence and 273 died due to breast cancer or other causes.

Those numbers are in keeping with national averages. An estimated 207,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, with an expected 85 - 90 percent 5-year survival rate for cases detected in early stages.