Unpacking the Role of Alcohol in Breast Cancer Risk: Highlighting Presentations from SABCS

At this year's San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), researchers will discuss how any alcohol intake elevates breast cancer risk and that risk rises in a clear dose-response pattern.

Large pooled cohort analyses quantified a consistent dose-response, with roughly single-digit percent increases in relative risk per standard drink per day and stepwise category increases from light to heavier consumption. Several analyses found larger relative increases for hormone-receptor–positive tumors in adequately representative clinic populations.

These reports drew on prospective cohorts and pooled case-control datasets with sample sizes sufficient to detect modest but clinically relevant effects in typical adult patients.

Presentations at SABCS show reproducible increases in circulating estrogen metabolites with alcohol exposure and described changes in cell membrane permeability and molecular transport that can alter tissue exposure to carcinogens. Genetic variation in alcohol-metabolizing enzymes (notably common ADH and ALDH alleles) was highlighted as a modifier.