title: Alcohol intake between menarche and first pregnancy: a prospective study of breast cancer risk.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Adult alcohol consumption during the previous year is related to breast cancer risk. Breast tissue is particularly susceptible to carcinogens between menarche and first full-term pregnancy. No study has characterized the contribution of alcohol consumption during this interval to risks of proliferative benign breast disease (BBD) and breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 91,005 parous women in the Nurses' Health Study II who had no cancer history, completed questions on early alcohol consumption in 1989, and were followed through June 30, 2009, to analyze breast cancer risk. A subset of 60,093 women who had no history of BBD or cancer in 1991 and were followed through June 30, 2001, were included in the analysis of proliferative BBD. Relative risks (RRs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazard regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 1609 breast cancer cases and 970 proliferative BBD cases confirmed by central histology review. Alcohol consumption between menarche and first pregnancy, adjusted for drinking after first pregnancy, was associated with risks of breast cancer (RR = 1.11 per 10 g/day intake; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00 to 1.23) and proliferative BBD (RR = 1.16 per 10 g/day intake; 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.32). Drinking after first pregnancy had a similar risk for breast cancer (RR = 1.09 per 10 g/day intake; 95% CI = 0.96 to 1.23) but not for BBD. The association between drinking before first pregnancy and breast neoplasia appeared to be stronger with longer menarche to first pregnancy intervals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alcohol consumption before first pregnancy was consistently associated with increased risks of proliferative BBD and breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Affiliations of authors: Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (YL, GAC); Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (GAC); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (BR, CSB, WYC, RMT); Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (LCC, SJS, JLC); Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (WCW).
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Graham A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Colditz
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rosner
authors.forename: Catherine S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Berkey
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: Wendy Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: Rulla M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Tamimi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D005348:Fibrocystic Breast Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008572:Menarche; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010298:Parity; D017698:Postmenopause; D011247:Pregnancy; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017584:Reproductive History; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors