MONDAY, April 14, (News Locale) - The health benefits of wine have been adequately elaborated in medical literature. But a large study has linked consumption of even moderate amount of alcohol to an increased risk of breast cancer. 

The study has linked drinking alcohol to estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor positive breast cancer; which are the most common forms of the cancer. Having one or two drinks a day increased the risk of developing hormone-sensitive breast cancer by 32 percent, the study found.

Lead author Dr Jasmine Lew, a researcher at the National Cancer Institute and colleagues followed 184,000 women for about seven years to assess the link between alcohol and breast cancer if any. All women were postmenopausal and reported their drinking habits regularly.

The researchers found a 7 percent increased risk of developing breast tumors in women who drank at least one glass of alcohol per day. Drinking two to four glasses increased the cancer risk to 51 percent. The study is due to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Another study led by Dr. Catalin Marian at Georgetown University analyzed the link between risk of breast cancer and two genes that are vital in alcohol metabolism.  the researchers found two genes called ADH1B and ADH1C to double the risk of breast cancer.

However the genetics study does not provide a cause and effect link. Rather it just provides an association between genes involved in alcohol metabolism and increased risk of breast cancer.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women, particularly in the developed countries. Over a million women are diagnosed worldwide every year, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France.

There are more than 2.3 million women in the United States who have undergone treatment for breast cancer, which happens to be the second leading cause of cancer death in the country.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that at least 13.2 percent of the women born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives.

About 182,460 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2008. About 40,480 women will die from the disease this year, according to the latest data available from the American Cancer Society.

Anecdotal evidence has indicated that breast cancer risk may be hiked by consuming alcohol. Based on the above studies, women may need to reconsider drinking spirits.

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