title: Alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.
abstract: Alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer among women in the general population, but its effect on women who carry a BRCA gene mutation is unclear. We conducted a case-control study of 1925 matched pairs of predominantly premenopausal women who carry a BRCA1 or a BRCA2 mutation. Information on current alcohol consumption was obtained from a questionnaire administered during the course of genetic counselling or at the time of enrollment. A modest inverse association between breast cancer and reported current alcohol consumption was observed among women with a BRCA1 mutation (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.70-0.96), but not among women with a BRCA2 mutation (OR = 1.00; 95% CI 0.71-1.41). Compared to non-drinkers, exclusive consumption of wine was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of breast cancer among BRCA1 carriers (p-trend = 0.01). Alcohol consumption does not appear to increase breast cancer risk in women carrying a BRCA gene mutation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.forename: Parviz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghadirian
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Little
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lubinski
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gronwald
authors.forename: Charmaine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kim-Sing
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Foulkes
authors.forename: Pal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Moller
authors.forename: Henry T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Neuhausen
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Domchek
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Armel
authors.forename: Claudine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Isaacs
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sweet
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ainsworth
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krewski
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narod
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D019398:Genes, BRCA1; D024522:Genes, BRCA2; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014920:Wine