HHS HealthBeat (April 23, 2008)

Alcohol and estrogen

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Alcohol won’t solve a problem; it can create one.

A study finds postmenopausal women who drink too much can increase their risk for developing the most common form of breast cancer.

This form makes up 70 percent of cases where tumors are positive for the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.

The researchers analyzed data on over 180,000 postmenopausal women.

The more women drank, the higher their risk.  Those who had three or more drinks a day had an increased risk, of 51 percent.

Researcher Jasmine Lew, with the National Cancer Institute:

“If women are concerned about their risks, they should talk to their doctor, and come up with a plan that is comfortable to them.”  (6 seconds)

The study was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2008 Annual Meeting.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

Last revised: April, 22 2008