Folate Intake Counteracts Disease Risk Associated With Alcohol Consumption.(breast cancer )

2001 MAY 10 - (NewsRx Network) -- The risk of postmenopausal breast cancer increases among women who regularly consume alcoholic beverages if they have a low intake of folate, a B vitamin, according to a new Mayo Clinic study.

Women who choose to drink, however, can lower their risk of developing breast cancer if they take in the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 400 micrograms of folic acid, the synthetic form of folate.

The study, led by Thomas Sellers, PhD, a Mayo Clinic cancer epidemiologist, appears in the May 2001 issue of the journal Epidemiology.

Sellers and colleagues observe that women with dietary folate intake in the lowest 10th percentile and alcohol use above the median of two grams per day had a 59% increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who never drank alcohol and whose folate intake was above the median. They also found that breast cancer risk was almost identical for women who drink four or more grams of alcohol per day but have the highest folate intake, and for teetotalers.

The interaction between alcohol and folate has been reported previously in two other large cohort studies. Together with the new Mayo Clinic study, these findings jointly suggest that folate supplementation may be an effective strategy to counteract the risks of breast cancer associated with alcohol-containing beverages.

"Recent surveys of the U.S. population show most people do not get adequate folate," says Sellers. "Taking a multivitamin should help individuals meet the RDA just check the label to ensure you're getting 100% of the requirement."

The precise biological mechanisms by which alcohol and folate interact to impact breast cancer risk are less clear, according to the researchers. There is scientific evidence from other studies that low folate levels may lead to poor DNA repair, which has been linked to occurrence of certain cancers.