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Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk in Japan: A pooled analysis of eight population‐based cohort studies

Journal Article · · International Journal of Cancer
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.33478· OSTI ID:1781985
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [7];  [8];  [8];  [9];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [9];  [12];  [13];  [14];  [15]
  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute Nagoya Japan, Department of Surgical Oncology Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine Nagoya Japan
  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute Nagoya Japan, Division of Cancer Epidemiology Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine Nagoya Japan
  3. Division of Cancer Information and Control Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute Nagoya Japan
  4. Division of Cancer Information and Control Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute Nagoya Japan, Division of Descriptive Cancer Epidemiology Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine Nagoya Japan
  5. Department of Public Health Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine Sapporo Japan
  6. Department of Public Health Aichi Medical University School of Medicine Nagakute Japan
  7. Department of Epidemiology Radiation Effects Research Foundation Hiroshima Japan
  8. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine Sendai Japan
  9. Epidemiology and Prevention Division Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center Tokyo Japan
  10. Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine Gifu Japan
  11. Department of Social and Environmental Medicine Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine Osaka Japan
  12. Department of Epidemiology and Prevention Center for Clinical Sciences, National Center for Global Health and Medicine Tokyo Japan
  13. Department of Oral Epidemiology Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University Hiroshima Japan
  14. Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Saga University Saga Japan
  15. Epidemiology and Prevention Division Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center Tokyo Japan, Department of Cancer Epidemiology Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo Tokyo Japan
+ Show Author Affiliations
Abstract

Although alcohol consumption is reported to increase the incidence of breast cancer in European studies, evidence for an association between alcohol and breast cancer in Asian populations is insufficient. We conducted a pooled analysis of eight large‐scale population‐based prospective cohort studies in Japan to evaluate the association between alcohol (both frequency and amount) and breast cancer risk with categorization by menopausal status at baseline and at diagnosis. Estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the individual cohorts and combined using random‐effects models. Among 158 164 subjects with 2 369 252 person‐years of follow‐up, 2208 breast cancer cases were newly diagnosed. Alcohol consumption had a significant association with a higher risk of breast cancer in both women who were premenopausal at baseline (regular drinker compared to nondrinker: HR 1.37, 1.04‐1.81, ≥23 g/d compared to 0 g/d: HR 1.74, 1.25‐2.43, P for trend per frequency category: P = .017) and those who were premenopausal at diagnosis (≥23 g/d compared to 0 g/d: HR 1.89, 1.04‐3.43, P for trend per frequency category: P = .032). In contrast, no significant association was seen in women who were postmenopausal at baseline or at diagnosis, despite a substantial number of subjects and long follow‐up period. Our results revealed that frequent and high alcohol consumption are both risk factors for Asian premenopausal breast cancer, similarly to previous studies in Western countries. The lack of a clear association in postmenopausal women in our study warrants larger investigation in Asia.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1781985
Journal Information:
International Journal of Cancer, Journal Name: International Journal of Cancer Journal Issue: 11 Vol. 148; ISSN 0020-7136
Publisher:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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