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Prospective evaluation of alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Given the adverse effect of alcohol in the development of breast cancer among women in the general population, we evaluated whether a similar association exists among women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Information regarding baseline daily alcohol consumption was abstracted from a research questionnaire for 3067 BRCA mutation carriers enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Women were followed biennially until the date of the last follow-up questionnaire, date of breast cancer diagnosis, date of prophylactic bilateral mastectomy, or date of death. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for invasive breast cancer associated with alcohol consumed at or prior to completion of the baseline questionnaire. After a mean of 5.4 years of follow-up, we observed 259 incident cases of primary invasive breast cancer. Compared with non-users, the adjusted RRs were 1.06 (95 % CI 0.78–1.44) for ever use and 1.08 (0.79–1.47) for current alcohol use. For women in the highest versus lowest quintile of cumulative alcohol consumption, the RR was 0.94 (95 % CI 0.63–1.40; P trend = 0.65). Our findings suggest that alcohol consumption is not a risk factor for breast cancer among women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

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Acknowledgments

We would also like to acknowledge the study coordinators Marcia Llacuachaqui and Alejandra Ragone, as well as the students and staff Jennifer Ng, Alexa Fine, Sarah Chin, Victoria Walter, David Bobrowski, Stephanie Bitzos, Remy Ndahigwa, Erika Meloche, Kristen Cooke, Gonzalo Francia, Josefina Dirube, and Farah Shoukat who helped with the data collection and data entry. Joanne Kotsopoulos is the recipient of a Cancer Care Ontario Research Chair in Population Studies and a Canadian Cancer Society Career Development Award in Prevention. Susan L. Neuhausen is partially supported by the Morris and Horowitz Endowed Professorship, and her work was supported by A grant from the NIH, R01CA74415. Steven Narod is the recipient of a Canada Research Chair tier I.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hereditary Cancer Center, Pomeranian Medical University, Szczecin, Poland

    Cezary Cybulski, Jan Lubinski & Tomasz Huzarski

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA

    Henry T. Lynch

  3. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Susan Armel Randall

  4. Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA

    Susan L. Neuhausen

  5. Division of Human Genetics, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, OH, USA

    Leigha Senter

  6. Departments of Cancer Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Anatomic Pathology, and Experimental Therapeutics, Moffitt Cancer Center, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA

    Susan Friedman

  7. London Regional Cancer Program, London, ON, Canada

    Peter Ainsworth

  8. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Christian Singer

  9. Program in Cancer Genetics, Department of Oncology and Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    William D. Foulkes

  10. Women’s College Research Institute, 790 Bay Street, Room 710, Toronto, ON, M5G 1N8, Canada

    Steven A. Narod, Ping Sun & Joanne Kotsopoulos

Authors
  1. Cezary Cybulski
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  2. Jan Lubinski
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  3. Tomasz Huzarski
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  4. Henry T. Lynch
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  5. Susan Armel Randall
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  6. Susan L. Neuhausen
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  7. Leigha Senter
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  8. Susan Friedman
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  9. Peter Ainsworth
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  10. Christian Singer
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  11. William D. Foulkes
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  12. Steven A. Narod
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  13. Ping Sun
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  14. Joanne Kotsopoulos
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joanne Kotsopoulos.

Additional information

The Hereditary Breast Cancer Clinical Study Group.

Other members of the Hereditary Breast Cancer Clinical Study Group Charis Eng, Jeanna McCuaig, Andrea Eisen, Joanne L. Blum, Dana Zakalik, Tuya Pal, Mary Daly, Carrie Snyder, Taya Fallen, Albert Chudley, John Lunn, Talia Donenberg, Raluca N. Kurz, Howard Saal, Judy Garber, Kevin Sweet, Edmond Lemire, Gillian Mitchell, Charmaine Kim-Sing, Olufunmilayo I. Olopade, Sofia Merajver, Louise Bordeleau, Carey A. Cullinane, Eitan Friedman, Wendy McKinnon, Marie Wood, Daniel Rayson, Wendy Meschino, Josephine Wagner Costalas, Robert E. Reilly, Susan Vadaparampil, Pal Moller, David Euhus, Ava Kwong, Claudine Isaacs, Fergus Couch, Siranoush Manoukian, Christine Elser, Seema Panchal, Rochelle Demsky, Sonia Nanda, Kelly Metcalfe, Aletta Poll, Barry Rosen, Timothy Rebbeck, Ellen Warner, Lovise Maehle, Gareth Evans, Barbara Pasini, Ophira Ginsburg, Stephanie Cohen, Anna Jakubowska, and Janice Little.

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Cybulski, C., Lubinski, J., Huzarski, T. et al. Prospective evaluation of alcohol consumption and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Res Treat 151, 435–441 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-015-3393-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-015-3393-4

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