Breast cancer survival in African American women: is alcohol consumption a prognostic indicator?
OBJECTIVE
Compromised breast cancer survival in African American women is well established. Factors associated with poorer survival in this group are not fully elucidated. This analysis examined the influence of alcohol consumption on breast cancer survival in African American women accrued to a hospital-based study.


METHODS
One hundred twenty-five postmenopausal women (mean age = 64.2 +/- 12.2 years) diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma between August 1989 and December 1994, and accrued to a hospital-based study of the disease, were followed for survival through December 1998. Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusted for cigarette smoking, summary stage of disease, and treatment explored the association between alcohol use and breast cancer survival.


RESULTS
Premorbid alcohol consumption of at least one drink per week was associated with 2.7-fold increase in risk of death (95% CI 1.3-5.8).


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests compromised breast cancer survival among postmenopausal women who reported drinking at least one alcoholic beverage per week, a preliminary finding that warrants further investigation.
Division of Cancer Prevention, Control and Population Sciences, Howard University Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA. mcdonalp@mail.nih.gov
Paige A Green
PA
McDonald
Rosemary
R
Williams
Fitzroy
F
Dawkins
Lucile L
LL
Adams-Campbell
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017698:Postmenopause; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health