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Folate intake, alcohol and risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in Denmark

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 280–286 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

There is consistent evidence that alcohol increases the risk of breast cancer. It has been suggested that the increased risk associated with alcohol intake may be reduced by adequate intake of folate. Since many women consume alcohol, detection of a risk-reducing mechanism would have major public health implications.

Design:

We therefore evaluated the possible interaction between alcohol and folate in a paired nested case–control study among postmenopausal women.

Setting:

A total of 24 697 postmenopausal women were included in the ‘Diet, Cancer and Health’ follow-up study between December 1993 and May 1997. The cohort was followed until December 2000. The study included 388 cases of breast cancer and 388 randomly selected controls were used to estimate the breast cancer incidence rate ratio (IRR) in conditional logistic regression analysis.

Results:

A previously established association between alcohol intake and risk of breast cancer was present mainly among women with low folate intake. An IRR of 1.19 (95% CI: 0.99–1.42) per 10 g average daily alcohol intake was found for women with a daily folate intake below 300 μg, while among women with a folate intake higher than 350 μg, we could not show an association between the alcohol intake and the breast cancer incidence rate (e.g. folate intake >400 μg; IRR of 1.01 (95% CI: 0.85–1.20)).

Conclusion:

The findings support the evidence that adequate folate intake may attenuate the risk of breast cancer associated with high alcohol intake.

Sponsorship:

The Danish Cancer Society.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Danish Cancer Society and ‘Europe against cancer’: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, The Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    A Tjønneland, J Christensen, A Olsen, C Stripp, S B Nissen & B L Thomsen

  2. Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

    K Overvad

Authors
  1. A Tjønneland
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  2. J Christensen
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  3. A Olsen
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  4. C Stripp
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  5. S B Nissen
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  6. K Overvad
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  7. B L Thomsen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A Tjønneland.

Additional information

Guarantor: A Tjønneland.

Contributors: AT, AO, CS and KO formulated the idea for the presented study. SBN coded the food supplement data. AT drafted the paper. JC and BT were responsible for the data analyses. All authors commented earlier drafts and approved the final version.

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Tjønneland, A., Christensen, J., Olsen, A. et al. Folate intake, alcohol and risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in Denmark. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 280–286 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602313

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602313

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