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Friday, February 20, 2009

Alcohol Intake and Cigarette Smoking and Risk of a Contralateral Breast Cancer
American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access published online on February 11, 2009


Women with primary breast cancer are at increased risk of developing second primary breast cancer. Few studies have evaluated risk factors for the development of asynchronous contralateral breast cancer in women with breast cancer.

In the Women's Environmental Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology Study (1985–2001), the roles of alcohol and smoking were examined in 708 women with asynchronous contralateral breast cancer (cases) compared with 1,399 women with unilateral breast cancer (controls).
Ever regular drinking was associated with an increased risk of asynchronous contralateral breast cancer (rate ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.0, 1.6), and the risk increased with increasing duration (P = 0.03). Smoking was not related to asynchronous contralateral breast cancer.

In this, the largest study of asynchronous contralateral breast cancer to date, alcohol is a risk factor for the disease, as it is for a first primary breast cancer.




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