title: Alcohol intake from early adulthood to midlife and mammographic density.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Moderate alcohol consumption (15 g/day) has been consistently associated with increased breast cancer risk; however, the association between alcohol and mammographic density, a strong marker of breast cancer risk, has been less consistent. Less is known about the effect of patterns of alcohol intake across the lifecourse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using the Early Determinants of Mammographic Density study, an adult follow-up of women born in two US birth cohorts (n = 697; Collaborative Perinatal Project in Boston and Providence sites and the Childhood Health and Development Studies in California), we examined the association between alcohol intake in early adulthood (ages 20-29 years) and at time of interview and mammographic density (percent density and total dense area). We report the difference between nondrinkers and three levels of alcohol intake. We considered confounding by age at mammogram, body mass index, geographic site, race/ethnicity, and reproductive characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-nine percent of women reported ever consuming alcohol. Compared to nondrinkers in early adulthood, we observed an inverse association between >7 servings/week and percent density in fully adjusted models (β = -5.1, 95% CI -8.7, -1.5; p for trend = <0.01). Associations with dense area were inverse for the highest category of drinking in early adulthood but not statistically significant (p for trend = 0.15). Compared to noncurrent drinkers, the association for current intake of >7 servings/week and percent density was also inverse (β = -3.1, 95% CI -7.0, 0.8; p for trend = 0.01). In contrast, moderate alcohol intake (>0-≤7 servings/week) in either time period was positively associated with dense area; but associations were not statistically significant in fully adjusted models.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study does not lend support to the hypothesis that the positive association between alcohol intake and breast cancer risk is through increasing mammographic density.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. jam2319@cumc.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Jasmine A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.affiliation: Obstetrics and Gynecology, Epidemiology Center Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Karin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Michels
authors.affiliation: Public Health Institute, Child Health and Development Studies, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Cohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julie D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Flom
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tehranifar
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|The Imprints Center for Genetic and Environmental Lifecourse Studies, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Terry
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D001940:Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000071060:Breast Density; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D042361:Mammary Glands, Human / Q000002:abnormalities*; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol intake; Dense area; Mammographic density; Percent density
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