Large cohort study: folate may not offset alcohol's breast ca effect.(Gynecology)

CHICAGO -- Increasing folate intake among postmenopausal women may not offset the elevated breast cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption, Dr. Christine Duffy said at the annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Results from the study of the Women's Health Initiative show that moderately low alcohol consumption (three to seven drinks per week) increases the risk for breast cancer, but, unlike the findings of other large cohort studies, the results do not show that a diet high in folate has a protective effect against breast cancer, or that there is any interaction between folate and alcohol intake, said Dr. Duffy of Brown University, Providence, R.I.

The findings put into question the value of advising women to increase folate intake to protect against an alcohol-induced increased risk of breast cancer, she said.

Dr. Duffy and her colleagues evaluated the relationship between alcohol, folate, and breast cancer in 93,724 women between the ages of 50 and 79 years who enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative study. The ethnically and socioeconomically diverse cohort included women from 40 clinical centers throughout the U.S.

The investigators examined the relationship between alcohol intake and breast cancer, using a multivariate logistic regression analysis that controlled for known and suspected risk factors, including age, family history, reproductive history, and hormone therapy.

Total folate intake per participant was ...