AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF BREAST-CANCER AND ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION

Nasca PC (New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Cancer Epidemiology, Albany, New York 12237, USA), Bap-tiste MS, Field NA, Metzger BB, Black M, Kwon CS and Jacobson H. An epidemiological case-control study of breast cancer and alcohol consumption. International Journal of Epidemiology, 1990; 19: 532-538.A case-control study of breast cancer and alcohol consumption was conducted with 1617 patients diagnosed with a primary cancer of the breast between 1982 and 1984 in 18 New York State counties. For each case, one control, matched for year of birth and county of residence, was selected from the driver's license files of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Breast cancer risk was shown to increase as daily consumption of alcohol increased, with a risk of 1.37 (95% CI = 1.07, 1.75) observed among women who consumed 15 or more grams of alcohol per day. Breast cancer risk did not appear to be related to the total number of years a woman drank or to be restricted to specific types of alcoholic beverages. The data suggest that this may be higher in women who began drinking at a later age. The increased risk associated with alcohol consumption, observed in the current study, persisted within strata of various breast cancer risk factors. © 1990 International Epidemiological Association.