Dr Christine Cheng

Drinking alcohol, even moderate amounts, is a well-established risk factor for breast cancer in women. A recent study found that 60 percent of breast cancer cases in women worldwide were attributable to alcohol consumption. But the mechanism(s) of alcohol-induced breast cancer are poorly understood.

Drinking just two alcoholic drinks a day when you have breast cancer fuels the growth of tumours. Cancer patients are often just told to moderate drinking.

A University of Mississippi team found giving mice the equivalent of two to four drinks a day doubled the normal growth of a tumour after four weeks. The growth and progression of breast cancer by fueling the development of new blood vessels — a process called “angiogenesis.” It does this by boosting expression of a key growth factor known as vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF.

Dr. Jian-Wei Gu and colleagues from the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson examined the effects of alcohol on tumor growth and progression of breast cancer in mice.

For 4 weeks, 6-week old female mice consumed regular drinking water or water containing 1 percent alcohol, which is equivalent to about 2 to 4 drinks in humans. In week 2, the animals were inoculated with mouse breast cancer cells.

“We found after about 4 weeks that breast tumor size almost doubled in mice that drank alcohol compared to control mice given plain water,” Gu noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. Moderate alcohol intake also caused a noteworthy increase in tumor blood vessels compared with no alcohol intake.

The team also observed a significant increase in VEGF levels in the tumors of mice consuming alcohol compared to the tumors of control mice.

Lead researcher Jian-Wei Gu said: “The vast majority of tumours result from over expressed VEGF. Every day, we produce a lot of cancer cells, but they don’t become bigger. But if the cells establish blood vessels, the tumour grows and strengthens, a process known as angiogenesis. Alcohol can induce tumour angiogenesis.”

This entry was posted on May 1, 2007 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Cancer Prevention, Health & Fitness, Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.