| This summary table contains detailed information about research studies. While viewing summary tables offers an informative glimpse at the science behind many breast cancer guidelines and recommendations, they should be viewed with some caution. There are a number of concepts you must understand to be able to successfully read and interpret research tables. To get some background information about understanding research tables, please see How to Read a Research Table. |
Introduction: More than 40 cohort and case-control studies support a link between alcohol use and breast cancer risk. The table below presents data from the meta-analyses, pooled analyses and large prospective cohort studies to date. When the data are assessed as a whole, having 2-4 drinks per day appears to increase the risk of breast cancer compared to not drinking. Also, having five or more drinks a day likely increases risk. However, most studies had few women who drank this much, making it hard to get a good risk estimate. A meta-analysis of 98 studies found that compared to non-drinkers, women who drank alcohol were at an 11 percent increased risk of breast cancer [1].
Find more information on the strengths and weaknesses of different types of studies.
See how this risk factor compares with other risk factors for breast cancer.
Study selection criteria: Prospective cohort studies with at least 300 incident breast cancer cases, meta-analyses and pooled analyses.
Table note: Relative risk above 1 indicates increased risk. Relative risk below 1 indicates decreased risk.
Study
|
Study Population
(number of participants)
|
Follow-up
(years)
|
Relative Risk of Breast Cancer in Women Who Drink Alcohol Compared to Women Who Do Not, RR (95% CI)
|
1-2 drinks/day*
|
2-4 drinks/day*
|
Prospective cohort studies
|
| Million Women Study [2] |
1,280,296
(28,380 cases)
|
7.2 |
1.13
(1.10-1.16)
|
1.29
(1.23-1.35)†
|
NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study [3]
|
184,418(5,461 cases)
|
7 |
1.13
(1.02-1.25)‡ |
1.23
(1.08-1.41)‡
|
EPIC [4]
|
274,688
(4,285 cases)
|
6.4
|
1.07
(0.96-1.19)
|
1.13
(1.01-1.25)
|
Kaiser Permanente [5]
|
70,033
(2,829 cases)
|
16 |
1.2
(1.1-14)
|
1.4
(1.1-1.7)
|
Iowa Women's Health Study [6]
|
34,393
(1,875 cases)
|
14 |
Significant increase‡ |
|
| Nurses' Health Study II [7] |
44,187
(1,722 cases)
|
12.6 |
1.22
(1.06-1.42)
|
1.33
(1.12-1.58)‡
|
California Teachers Study [8]
|
103,460
(1,742 cases)
|
4-5§
|
0.91
(0.71-1.16)
|
1.32
(1.06-1.63)
|
| Women's Health Study [9] |
38,454
(1,484 cases)
|
10 |
1.14
(0.92-1.40)‡,║
|
1.32
(0.96-1.82)‡ |
| CPS II [10] |
66,561
(1,303 cases)
|
5 |
1.26
(1.04-1.53)
|
|
Sweden Mammography Cohort [11]
|
51,847
(1,188 cases)
|
8.3 |
1.43
(1.16-1.76)‡,¶
|
|
PLCO Screening Trial [12]
|
25,400
(691 cases)
|
4.94 |
1.37
(1.08-1.76)‡
|
|
Nurses' Health Study [13]
|
89,046
(601 cases)
|
7
|
1.34
(1.07-1.68)
|
1.29
(0.95-1.76)
|
Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study [14]
|
17,447
(537 cases)
|
10.1 |
0.87
(0.62-1.22)‡
|
1.41
(0.90-2.23)‡
|
Canadian National Breast Screening Study [15]
|
56,837
(519 case)
|
6 |
1.39
(0.90-2.13)
|
1.89
(1.02-3.49)
|
Copenhagen Center for Population Studies [16]
|
13,074
(473 cases)
|
6.1 |
1.11
(0.85-1.45)
|
1.10
(0.77-1.57)**
|
Copenhagen City Heart Study [17]
|
9,318
(476 cases)
|
27 |
1.36
(1.01-1.81)††
|
1.71
(0.82-3.57)††
|
Danish Nurse Cohort Study [18]
|
17,647
(457 cases)
|
7.6 |
1.10
(0.80-1.51)‡‡
|
2.30
(1.56-3.39)‡‡
|
Netherlands Cohort Study [19]
|
62,412
(422 cases)
|
4
|
1.20
(0.76-1.91)
|
1.79
(0.93-3.45)
|
New York State Cohort [20]
|
18,475
(359 cases)
|
8
|
0.69
(0.39-1.21)
|
1.28
(0.63-2.59)
|
Malmo Diet and Cancer cohort [21]
|
11,726
(342 cases)
|
7.6
|
0.88
(0.62-1.24)
|
1.68
(0.91-3.12)††
|
Meta-analyses and pooled analyses
|
Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer [22]
|
53 studies
153,582
(58,515 cases)
|
|
1.13
(1.08-1.19)
|
1.21
(1.14-1.28)§§
|
Longnecker [23]
|
50 studies
|
|
1.11
(1.07-1.16)‡
|
1.38
(1.23-1.55)‡
|
Smith-Warner et al. [24]
|
322,647
(4,335 cases)
|
|
1.16
(0.98-1.38)
|
1.41
(1.18-1.69)
|
* In the United States, there is an average of 13.2g of alcohol in a bottle or can of beer, 10.8g in a glass of wine and 15.1g in a shot of whiskey. Relative risk categories are based on the alcohol in a glass of wine.
† Categorized as 15 or more drinks per week.
‡ The number of drinks/day was estimated from the number of grams of alcohol given in the study.
§ Estimated from study dates.
║ Results also found that increasing alcohol use by 10g (about one drink) per day significantly increased risk of overall breast cancer as well as risk of ER+/PR+ tumors (relative risk 1.07 (1.01-1.14) and 1.11 (1.03-1.20), respectively).
¶ Results also found that compared to non-drinkers, women who drank >= 10 g alcohol/day had an increased risk of ER+ breast cancers.
** Relative risk for combined pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. Comparison group is women who drank 0.1-0.9 servings/day. When looked at by menopausal status, alcohol intake of fewer than 4 servings/day was not related to either pre- or postmenopausal breast cancer risk. However, among premenopausal women, drinking more than 3.9 servings/day, the relative risk was increased 3.49 (1.36-8.99).
†† Baseline measures of alcohol consumption.
‡‡ Compared to women who drank 1-3 drinks per week. Categorized as 2-3 drinks per day and 3-4 drinks per day, respectively.
§§ Categorized as 1 drink/day and 3 drinks/day, respectively.
References
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Updated 11/17/09
