Does alcohol affect breast cancer survival?

Conclusion This large cohort study with a long follow-up has found that moderate alcohol consumption before breast cancer diagnosis (three to six drinks per week) is associated with a reduced risk of death due to breast cancer, but that alcohol intake after diagnosis did not have any benefit, but also did not cause any harm. The study also found that consuming between one and nine drinks per week before a diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and of death from any cause, compared to never drinking. The study also suggested that women who consumed higher levels of alcohol after diagnosis (10 or more drinks per week) were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease. However, this group of women represented a much smaller sample, so these risk figures are less reliable. Women who drank more than three drinks per week after diagnosis were less likely to die from any cause than women who never drank. Women who increased their level of alcohol consumption after breast cancer diagnosis had better survival from cardiovascular disease and other causes, and did not affect their survival from breast cancer. This research has the strengths of being a large cohort study with long-follow-up and it collected information on and adjusted for a number of potential confounding factors. However, it suffers from the inherent limitation of all cohort studies in that it can only show association and not cause and effect due to the pos...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Source Type: news