Increased Breast Cancer Risk In Alcohol Consumption By Adolescents

A new study published at the online site Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society mentioned that there is an increase in the development of breast cancer in adolescents who consume alcohol and those with a family history of the disease.

Author of the study is Dr. Catherine Berkey, a biostatistician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston investigated the childhood and adolescent risk factors in developing breast cancer among girls. Test subjects were adolescent girls with a known familial history of benign breast cancer and many other breast diseases and ailments. The study results were clear: adolescent girls with a family history of breast cancer and other breast conditions and who consumed significant amounts of alcohol increased their risk in developing breast cancer themselves.

The study also reflected a previous research study conducted by Dr. Graham Colditz from the Growing Up Today Study. This research included females who were from the ages of 9 to 15; these adolescents completed a series of questionnaires regarding alcohol intake, age during their first menstrual period, body mass index and their height. These questions were completed annually from 1996 to 2001 and then in 2003, 2005 and in 2007. The study results were amazing; those participants who had maternal history of breast cancer reported receiving diagnosis of breast cancer as well through breast biopsy. Furthermore, these positive test subjects admitted to taking significant amounts of alcohol making the study assuming the direct relationship of having breast cancer and alcohol consumption true.

This study of course not only aims to find the relationship of alcohol and genetics to breast cancer but also serves as a warning to women who consume more alcohol than usual to be aware that alcohol drinks are tickets to develop breast cancer or abnormal conditions of the breast tissue.

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