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Low level alcohol intake, cigarette smoking and risk of breast cancer in Asian-American women

Breast Cancer Research and Treatment volume 120, pages 203–210 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Studies have shown that breast cancer incidence rates among Asian migrants to the United States approach US incidence rates over several generations, implicating potentially modifiable exposures such as moderate alcohol use that has been linked to excess breast cancer risk in other populations. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of alcohol intake, primarily low levels, on breast cancer risk in Asian-American women and explore whether smoking and alcohol contributed to the breast cancer incidence rates observed among Asian migrants to the United States. Study subjects in this population-based case-control study included 597 incident cases of breast cancer of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino ethnicity living in San Francisco–Oakland, Los Angeles, and Oahu, Hawaii, and 966 population controls frequency matched on age, ethnicity, and area of residence. The fraction of smokers and drinkers was significantly higher in women born in Western compared with Eastern countries. However, breast cancer risk was not significantly associated with smoking (odds ratio (OR) = 1.2, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.9–1.6) or alcohol drinking (OR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.7–1.1) in this population of low consumers of alcohol (median intake among drinkers in grams per day was 0.48 for cases and 0.40 for controls). These data suggest that low alcohol intake is not related to increased breast cancer risk in Asian-American women and that neither alcohol nor cigarette use contributed to the elevated risks in Asian-American women associated with migration patterns and Westernization.

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Abbreviations

OR:

Odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

MSA:

Metropolitan statistical area

ICDO:

International Classification of Diseases for Oncology

SD:

Standard deviation

ADH:

Alcohol dehydrogenase

ALDH:

Aldehyde dehydrogenase

g:

Grams

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ms. Anne Taylor and Mr. Roy Van Dusen of Information Management Systems for computer support; Dr. B. J. Stone and Mr. David Check, Biostatistics Branch, DCEG, NCI, Rockville, MD for manuscript preparation and editing support; Westat Inc., Rockville, MD for overseeing field work; study coordinators, interviewers, and support staff in each study area for their diligent work; and the many physicians, hospitals, and study participants who contributed to this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Michael Hauptmann

    Present address: Department of Bioinformatics and Statistics, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Linda Morris Brown, Gloria Gridley, Roni T. Falk, Michael Hauptmann, Robert N. Hoover & Regina G. Ziegler

  2. RTI International, 6110 Executive Blvd., Suite 902, Rockville, MD, 20852-3907, USA

    Linda Morris Brown

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Anna H. Wu & Malcolm C. Pike

  4. Epidemiology Program, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Laurence N. Kolonel & Abraham M. Y. Nomura

  5. Northern California Cancer Center, Fremont, CA, USA

    Dee W. West

Authors
  1. Linda Morris Brown
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  2. Gloria Gridley
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  3. Anna H. Wu
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  4. Roni T. Falk
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  6. Laurence N. Kolonel
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  7. Dee W. West
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  8. Abraham M. Y. Nomura
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  9. Malcolm C. Pike
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  10. Robert N. Hoover
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  11. Regina G. Ziegler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linda Morris Brown.

Additional information

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.

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Brown, L.M., Gridley, G., Wu, A.H. et al. Low level alcohol intake, cigarette smoking and risk of breast cancer in Asian-American women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 120, 203–210 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0464-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0464-4

Keywords

  • Breast cancer
  • Alcohol drinking
  • Cigarette smoking
  • Asian-American
  • Epidemiology