title: Intakes of alcohol and folate during adolescence and risk of proliferative benign breast disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the combined effect of alcohol and folate intake during adolescence on the risk of proliferative benign breast disease (BBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 29 117 women in the Nurses' Health Study II who completed both adolescent alcohol consumption questions in 1989 and an adolescent diet questionnaire in 1998. A total of 659 women with proliferative BBD diagnosed between 1991 and 2001 were confirmed by central pathology review. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for established risk factors of breast cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adolescent alcohol consumption was dose-dependently associated with an increased risk of proliferative BBD (hazard ratio = 1.15 per 10 g/day consumption; 95% CI, 1.03-1.28). There was no significant association between adolescent folate intake and the risk of proliferative BBD. Stratified analyses showed that each 10-g/day alcohol intake during adolescence was associated with a 21% (95% CI, 1.01-1.45) increase in the risk of proliferative BBD among women with low folate intake during adolescence, which was not significantly different from the alcohol-associated risk among women with moderate and high folate intake during adolescence (P for interaction = 0.18).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescent alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of proliferative BBD, which may not be reduced by increased folate intake during adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Rulla M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tamimi
authors.forename: Catherine S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Berkey
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Schnitt
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Connolly
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005348:Fibrocystic Breast Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005492:Folic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012306:Risk; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D005492:Folic Acid