Folic Acid, Alcohol and Breast Cancer Risk

According to data from the Iowa Women's Health Study, postmenopausal women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol may lessen their risk of breast cancer if they maintain sufficient folate (folic acid) intake in their diet.

Writing in the journal Epidemiology, Dr. Thomas Sellers of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and colleagues reported on an analysis of questionnaires received from more than 34,000 women aged 55 to 69 since 1986. The questionnaires solicited information on factors known or suspected to be relevant to breast cancer risk, including family history, pregnancy, menstrual history, physical activity, smoking history, alcohol use, and intake of dietary vitamins and supplements.

As expected, they found that established risk factors such as higher values of body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, alcohol intake, and age at first pregnancy were associated with a higher risk of breast cancer. Older age at menarche (first period) and younger age at menopause were associated with lower risk. Use of hormone replacement therapy was found to be a weak risk factor.

Interestingly, they found that low B-vitamin (folic acid) intake did not represent a major risk factor for breast cancer-with one notable exception. Women who were regular consumers of alcohol-containing beverages and also had insufficient B-vitamin intakes were found to be at higher risk.

However, they found that women who drank more than 4 grams of alcohol per day but also consumed the highest levels of folate in their diets had about the same risk of breast cancer as women who did not drink alcohol and had low intakes of folate.

"The current study suggests that among the subset of women who report regular use of alcohol-containing beverages, breast cancer risk is increased among those with dietary folate intakes in the lowest 10th percentile," they wrote. "Folate supplementation may attenuate [lessen] the risks of breast cancer associated with alcohol-containing beverages."

SOURCE:
Epidemiology, July 2001; 12:420-428

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