Alcohol cessation and breast cancer risk stratified by hormone receptor status

Because alcohol consumption is an established cause of female breast cancer, understanding whether cessation affects risk is of public health importance. In a recent meta-analysis, compared with continuing consumption, the relative risk (RR) for cessation was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88-1.01). Because intake of alcohol is more consistently associated with estrogen receptor positive (ER+) than negative (ER-) subtypes, we conducted a meta-analysis of alcohol cessation for ER-specific breast cancer risk using data from three cohort studies and one population-based case-control study (ER + n = 3,793; ER- n = 627) with information reported on cessation and ER status. Compared with continuing consumption, cessation was associated with lower risk of ER+ (RR = 0.88, 95%CI, 0.79-0.98) but not ER- (RR = 1.23, 95%CI, 0.98-1.55) breast cancer. These results suggest that, compared with continuing consumption, alcohol cessation may reduce ER + but not ER- breast cancer risk. However, research that considers duration of cessation is warranted.