A new report from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden states that women who have been through menopause, who drink daily more than 250 ml beer, 100 ml wine or 25 ml of high-per cent alcohol, clearly increase the risk of getting sick with the most frequent kinds of breast cancer. This risk is particularly increased if the women in addition to drinking alcohol are on hormone replacement therapy.

It is well-known that excessive consumption of alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer within women, especially those who have left menopause behind them. However at this point it has not been examined whether there is a connection between alcohol and the development of certain kinds of cancer of the breast.

The researchers had from 1987 to 1997 data to the consumption of alcohol of approximately 51,800 women collected. All participants in the Breast Mammography Study had gone through the menopause stage while still a part of the study where they could be assessed on an ongoing basis.

Already known is more than a half glass of wine daily clearly increases the risk of breast cancer. The Swedish researchers found that increasing the alcohol by 10 grams daily also increases the risk to get sick with an OS-positive cancer of the breast in such a way specified. This most frequent kind of cancer of the breast is propelled by the female sex hormone OS which channels growth.

10 grams of alcohol is contained in a small beer glass (250 ml)

A half glass of wine (100 ml) already contains 12 grams of alcohol.

In the Swedish investigation the consumption of alcohol of more than 10 grams of alcohol per day increased the risk for an OS-positive cancer of the breast. Absolutely 232 in 100,000 got sick in the group with consumption of alcohol of more than 10 grams per day. Women who got cancer of the breast who did not drink during the study compared to women who did drink alcohol were only 158 in 100,000.

There is a particularly strong aggravation to the risk by alcohol when combined with hormone replacement therapy. This causes concern that the risk of breast cancer increases particularly strongly within the women who drink more than 10 grams of alcohol daily and take hormone replacement therapy. With them the risk for OS-positive tumors increased by 3.5%.

The researchers draw the result that their results show that with women who have gone through menopause with just a moderate consumption of alcohol have significantly increased the risk for OS-positive cancer of the breast. This realization is of importance, since OS-positive breast cancers are the most proliferated types of breast cancer in our modern society and thus gives some plausibility to the studies findings.