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Hi All,

It seems that post-menopausal breast cancer risk is dependent on

family history of breast cancer, folate levels and alcohol. Alcohol

has been thought to have a role, and it seems to be a complex one, I

believe, shown in the below not Medline-available yet and pdf-

available paper:

Does folate intake decrease risk of postmenopausal breast cancer

among women with a family history?

Cancer Causes Control, March 2004, 15, (2) 113-120

A. Sellers, et al and, R. Cerhan

.....family history (FH) of breast cancer using a cohort of 33,552

postmenopausal women aged 55–69 years in 1986. Method: Folate and

alcohol intake was estimated from a food frequency questionnaire

completed at baseline. Folate was categorized as upper 50th, 31st–

50th, 11th–30th, and <10th percentiles. Alcohol use was initially

classified into three levels; never drinkers, less than the median

and greater than the median. Subsequent models collapsed levels of

intake to any versus none. Occurrence of breast cancer was determined

through linkage to the Iowa SEER registry. Multivariate-adjusted

relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated

through proportional hazards regression, stratified on FH using

non-drinkers with high folate and no FH as the referent group.

Results: Through 14 years, 1823 incident cases were identified, 308

among FH+ women. Among FH- women, low folate was not a risk factor

among non-drinkers (RR = 0.96, CI = 0.73–1.26), but was among

drinkers (RR = 1.40, CI = 1.05–1.86). Drinkers with high folate were

not at elevated risk (RR = 1.03, CI = 0.89–1.19). Among FH+ women,

low folate was a risk factor among drinkers (RR = 2.21, CI = 1.43–

3.41) and non-drinkers (RR = 2.39, CI = 1.36–4.20). Further, drinkers

with high folate remained at increased risk (RR = 1.67, CI= 1.30–

2.14). However, FH+ women with high folate who did not drink alcohol

had no elevated risk. Conclusion: These results suggest that folate

may attenuate the risks of postmenopausal breast cancer associated

with family history, but only if alcohol use is avoided or minimized.

Cheers, Alan Pater, PhD; 4849 Swanson St., Port Alberni, BC, V9Y 6M7;

phone: 250

724-0596; email: old54200@...