title: Alcohol metabolism, alcohol intake, and breast cancer risk: a sister-set analysis using the Breast Cancer Family Registry.
abstract: Moderate alcohol intake has been consistently associated with a modest (30-50%) increase in breast cancer risk, but it remains unclear if certain individuals have higher susceptibility to the harmful effects of alcohol intake. Individuals differ in their ability to metabolize alcohol through genetic differences in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), the enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of approximately 80% of ethanol to acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Using data from the Breast Cancer Family Registry (n = 811 sister sets), we examined whether sisters with breast cancer differ with respect to alcohol consumption and alcohol metabolism (measured by polymorphisms in ADH1B and ADH1C) compared to their sisters without breast cancer. Neither alcohol drinking nor alcohol metabolizing ADH1B and ADH1C genotypes were associated with breast cancer risk. However, only 19% and 42% of sisters were discordant by ADH1B and ADH1C, respectively, and even fewer were discordant by both genotype and alcohol intake, making it difficult to detect differences if they existed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, Room 724, New York, NY 10032, USA. mt146@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: Julia A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zablotska
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Esther M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Irene L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Andrulis
authors.forename: Ruby T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Senie
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Hilmi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozcelik
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Briollais
authors.forename: Regina M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Santella
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; C489332:ADH1B protein, human; C420272:ADH1C protein, human; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase