With the holiday party season coming up, it’s worth thinking about what’s in your glass when you’re celebrating. A glass of wine can bring out the flavor of many foods, and it can be hard to resist a champagne toast at midnight on New Year’s Eve. But alcohol can increase the risk of breast cancer, especially in teen and tween girls whose breasts are developing (another reason to encourage the teenage girls in our lives to avoid alcohol). And other research has shown that having a few drinks a week may increase the risk of breast cancer recurrence — breast cancer coming back. The more you drink, the bigger the increase in risk.
At least 4% of breast cancers in women in developed countries are likely due to drinking alcohol. In countries where more women drink alcohol (and drink more when they do), such as France, it’s likely that more breast cancers can be linked to alcohol. In France it’s estimated that at least 9% of breast cancers are linked to drinking alcohol.
How much does alcohol increase breast cancer risk? There’s a 10% increase in risk for each 10 grams of alcohol per day (a glass of wine is about 11 grams). So as little as 1 drink per day can increase risk slightly. Women who have 3 to 4 drinks per day have nearly a 50% increase in breast cancer risk. It’s not clear if this risk goes back down if you limit how much you drink or quit drinking entirely.
Alcohol may increase risk the risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence). Just 3 or 4 drinks per week after a breast cancer diagnosis can increase the risk of recurrence. This link seems to be strongest in postmenopausal and overweight women.
Alcohol’s effects may vary by type of breast cancer. Drinking alcohol seems to affect the risk of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers more than the risk of hormone-receptor-negative breast cancers. Estrogen can cause hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer to grow, and alcohol can increase estrogen levels in a woman’s body. This estrogen increase may be why there’s a link between drinking alcohol and breast cancer.
Teens and tweens need to stay dry. Girls who drink often and heavily have a much greater risk of developing benign breast disease in their 20s (benign breast disease is a risk factor for breast cancer).
Make your toasts healthy. If you want to limit or avoid alcohol, there are many delicious choices. Mocktails — drinks that use all the ingredients of cocktails except for the alcohol — are available just about everywhere. Virgin Marys offer the healthy tomato juice of Bloody Marys without the vodka. Cosmo-Nots keep the healthy cranberry juice without the booze. Many online recipe sites have tips for making non-alcoholic drinks. The makers of non-alcoholic beer, wine, and champagne have improved the taste of their products and these, too, are widely available.
Here are some ways to make your holiday beverages festive:
- Freeze your favorite juice in ice tray and use as ice cubes. This looks especially nice in a pint glass of club soda or sparkling water.
- Get creative and make a dramatic mocktail using edible flowers preserved in syrup — you can eat the flower afterward.
- Put fresh organic raspberries or strawberries in the bottom of a champagne flute and top with sparkling water or ginger ale.
- Put chunks of fresh fruit on a drink stirrer and put into a glass of your favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
- Use a candy cane or other stick candy as a swizzle stick.
- Rim your glass with colored sugar for sparkling pizzazz.
If you, like me, choose to enjoy the occasional drink, try to stick to 2 or fewer alcoholic drinks per week. On special occasions, I give myself a little more wiggle room.
Dr. Weiss,
If someone only has 1 drink in a week is it OK to have 5 the next week for the average of 3 per week? Just curious to educate others because I have pretty much cut alcohol out of my life.
Thanks!
I was diagnosed with hormone receptor positive cancer. I will soon begin my five year regime of hormone therapy. Will the drugs reduce the chance of alcohol increasing estrogen level in my body? Or will the alcohol neutralize the benefits of the drugs? Am I at greater risk if I drink alcohol during or after the drug therapy is completed?
Minn. I don’t think we know. What we do know is that w/o hormonal therapy, there is a clear risk of drinking for ER+ women. That was clear from the study presented at last year’s San Antonio conference.
There were not enough women on Tamoxifen in that study to break out that group separately. This group would not have been treated with AIs as represented women diagnosed between 1996 and 2000.
I would have the same question for women being treated with AIs. You also have to think about heart disease where moderate alcohol consumption has a clear benefit.
Wine is one of the major pleasures in my life, so I went back to enjoying it once I was past chemo. I am not sorry about that decision. And no, ginger ale doesn’t cut it, but can be helpful to consume as a “festive drink” if you need to drive home from a party.
I had the same question as Minn and want to know if Tamoxifen provides protection against the adverse affects of alcohol on estrogen levels since it is effectively an estrogen blocker?
Hello, everyone. Alcohol is one of a tall stack of risk factors—and it is one that we have control over. That makes it an important breast healthy step you can take. The studies showing a link between alcohol and breast cancer risk did not provide information about whether hormonal therapy can remove or reduce alcohol as a risk factor. The studies only looked at average weekly consumption of alcohol, without attention to variations throughout the year, such as birthdays, St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July, Christmas, New Years, etc. What we do know is that there is no hormonal therapy that’s 100% guaranteed to entirely eliminate estrogen from your body or to block estrogen from affecting any breast cells. I believe that it’s in our best interest to minimize our intake of any substance that might have a negative effect on our bodies and to maximize the effectiveness of our hormonal therapy—while protecting our quality of life. Each of us has to make the best decisions and choices possible. What kind of gain is worth how much sacrifice??!!!
In the absence of clear data on these very important questions, I’ve chosen to err on the side of caution. Cutting back on alcohol consumption has been difficult for me personally, particularly at this time of year when it’s freely flowing at holiday parties and with family dinners. Everyone else is drinking up and having a marvelous time. It’s not quite as much fun without the “spirits.” And like you, I, too, want to have fun with friends and family, celebrate the end of various treatment steps, usher in the New Year, etc. My approach: most of the year, I aim for fewer than 3 drinks per week but will stretch to 5 per week during special times like vacations, family celebrations, etc. Only occasionally will I drink more than that—like this week and New Year’s week, when there’s a party every night for work or with family. I can only do the best I can each day; I’m certainly not perfect!
But I must say, in general, my cutbacks have resulted in huge benefits, giving me more motivation to stick with my cutbacks. Drinking less alcohol means easier weight management, better cognition, better sleep, greater energy, safer driving, more productivity, better condition for Zumba. Oh, did I also mention that alcohol is famous for interfering with sexual response? (You might get in the mood more but getting aroused and reaching orgasm is slowed, for both men and women. That’s why men can go on WAY TOO LONG if they’ve had too much to drink.) So there too is yet another benefit.
Well…this has given me a reason to cut back on the wine at dinner. I’ll miss it, but…
Any studies done on alcohol and women who are hormone receptor negative and therefore not on any hormone therapy?
Someone told me that even men can have breast cancer. Is it true? And alcohol can be a cause of breast cancer? I’m a heavy drinker, I actually drink a lot every night. My question is, is it really true that men can possibly get breast cancer?
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[…] You can also try my trick. I like to hold a glass at parties (it gives me something to do with my hands and keeps them away from all the sugary treats), plus it makes me feel like one of the gang because just about everyone else has a glass. I’ve found that asking for club soda or seltzer and a splash of cranberry juice with a wedge of lime is a foolproof drink. just about everyone has it, it’s refreshing, and it keeps me hydrated. and the bubbles and cranberry juice make it more festive than plain water. a Virgin Mary — that is, just Bloody Mary Mix without the vodka — is another good solution (plus tomato juice is food for you). For more ideas, visit the TPLG column Breast Cancer and Alcohol: why and How to Mak…. […]
Thanks,…
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