News di Alcologia

L'alcol incide sul rischio di cancro al seno?
di Annalisa Lista

Il consumo di alcol non ha alcun impatto sulla sopravvivenza al cancro al seno. Mentre ricerche precedenti hanno dimostrato il legame tra l'assunzione di alcolici e l'aumento del rischio di sviluppare questa forma di tumore. Lo studio, pubblicato nel Journal of Clinical Oncology, ha preso in esame 23.000 donne, tra i 20 e i 79 anni, che avevano fatto uso di alcol prima e dopo la diagnosi. I risultati hanno provato che quelle che non ne abusavano, sia prima, sia dopo il responso medico, erano generalmente in buone condizioni fisiche rispetto alle astemie. Specialmente a livello cardiovascolare.

Alcohol Consumption Before and After Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Associations With Survival From Breast Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and Other Causes
Polly A. Newcomb, Ellen Kampman, Amy Trentham-Dietz, Kathleen M. Egan, Linda J. Titus, John A. Baron, John M. Hampton, Michael N. Passarelli and Walter C. Willett
Corresponding author: Polly A. Newcomb, PhD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109; e-mail: [email protected].

Abstract
Purpose Alcohol intake is associated with increased risk of breast cancer. In contrast, the relation between alcohol consumption and breast cancer survival is less clear.

Patients And methods. We assessed pre- and postdiagnostic alcohol intake in a cohort of 22,890 women with incident invasive breast cancer who were residents of Wisconsin, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire and diagnosed from 1985 to 2006 at ages 20 to 79 years. All women reported on prediagnostic intake; a subsample of 4,881 reported on postdiagnostic intake.

Results. During a median follow-up of 11.3 years from diagnosis, 7,780 deaths occurred, including 3,484 resulting from breast cancer. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% CIs were estimated. Based on a quadratic analysis, moderate alcohol consumption before diagnosis was modestly associated with disease-specific survival (compared with nondrinkers, HR = 0.93 [95% CI, 0.85 to 1.02], 0.85 [95% CI, 0.75 to 0.95], 0.88 [95% CI, 0.75 to 1.02], and 0.89 [95% CI, 0.77 to 1.04] for two or more, three to six, seven to nine, and = 10 drinks/wk, respectively). Alcohol consumption after diagnosis was not associated with disease-specific survival (compared with nondrinkers, HR = 0.88 [95% CI, 0.61 to 1.27], 0.80 [95% CI, 0.49 to 1.32], 1.01 [95% CI, 0.55 to 1.87], and 0.83 [95% CI, 0.45 to 1.54] for two or more, three to six, seven to nine, and = 10 drinks/wk, respectively). Results did not vary by beverage type. Women consuming moderate levels of alcohol, either before or after diagnosis, experienced better cardiovascular and overall survival than nondrinkers.

Conclusion. Overall alcohol consumption before diagnosis was not associated with disease-specific survival, but we found a suggestion favoring moderate consumption. There was no evidence for an association with postdiagnosis alcohol intake and breast cancer survival. This study, however, does provide support for a benefit of limited alcohol intake for cardiovascular and overall survival in women with breast cancer.

(Articolo pubblicato dal CUFRAD sul sito www.alcolnews.it)