Drinking doesn't affect your breast cancer survival
We've been told before that alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer, but new research has found that drinking before and after diagnosis does not impact survival from the disease.
In fact, a modest survival benefit was found in women who were moderate drinkers before and after diagnosis due to a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, a major cause of mortality among breast cancer survivors.
"Our findings should be reassuring to women who have breast cancer because their past experience consuming alcohol will not impact their survival after diagnosis," explains Polly Newcomb, Ph.D., a member of the Public Health Sciences Division, who led the study.
"This study also provides additional support for the beneficial effect of moderate alcohol consumption with respect to cardiovascular disease."
The study was based on data from almost 23,000 women.
Among study participants with a history of breast cancer, the authors found that the amount and type of alcohol a woman reported consuming in the years before her diagnosis was not associated with her likelihood from dying from breast cancer.
However, the authors also found that those who consumed a moderate level of alcohol (three to six drinks per week) in the years before their cancer diagnosis were 15 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease than non-drinkers.
Moderate wine consumption in particular was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality, while no such benefit was evident for consumption of beer or spirits, or for heavier levels of alcohol consumption.
Dr Hannah Bridges from the UK’s leading breast cancer charity, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, says: “We know that drinking alcohol increases your risk of developing breast cancer and that the more you drink, the greater your risk of breast cancer will be. Even though this research shows that drinking alcohol before or after being diagnosed with breast cancer might not reduce a patient’s chance of surviving the disease, drinking can cause a whole host of health problems, so we recommend women consider cutting down on alcohol. Those who would like advice on diet and drinking following a diagnosis of breast cancer should talk to their doctor.”
The study results will be published in the April 8 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Tagged in Alcohol Breast Cancer