HEALTH : New Study Links Liquor, Cancer

The evidence that alcohol contributes to the development of breast cancer continues to grow. A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health showed a 50% increase in the risk of breast cancer among women who drink as little as one 8-ounce glass of wine each day, and a 70% increase among those who had two glasses.

The study was conducted in Spain by a Harvard graduate student among 762 breast-cancer patients ages 18 to 85. They were compared to 988 women of the same ages and the same regions who did not have breast cancer.

Jose M. Martin-Moreno, the Harvard doctoral candidate who is now an official of the National Institute of Public Health in Spain, conducted the research under the supervision of Walter Willett, a Harvard professor of epidemiology and nutrition.

Willett said there are about 30 studies that link risk of breast cancer with moderate intake of alcohol. He said that “although the cause-and-effect relationship is only suggested, no other plausible explanation has been put forward.”

The study was published this month in Cancer Causes & Control, a journal of the Harvard School of Public Health.