Daily Glass Of Wine Doubles Risk Of Breast Cancer   

Middle-aged women who drink just one glass of wine a day could double their risk of a common type of breast cancer, scientists warn.

•Alcohol has been linked with cancer.

According to the U.S. research, even those who drink just seven units a week – half the recommended safe level – have a much greater chance of developing lobular cancer than those who don’t drink at all. Lobular cancer is the second most common form of breast cancer. Women aged 45 to 55 are most at risk.

Experts have already warned that excessive drinking is causing a global rise in breast cancer. In Britain alone the number of cases has risen by 80 per cent in the past 30 years. Over the same period, alcohol consumption has almost doubled.

For their study, scientists looked at the recent drinking habits of almost 90,000 women who had gone through the menopause. Those who drank seven or more units a week were 1.82 times as likely to develop the cancer once they reached the menopause.

The researchers, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, in Seattle, are not sure why alcohol appears to cause tumours to develop. But they believe it raises the levels of the hormone oestrogen, which has previously been linked to increased risk of breast cancer.

However, alcohol did not appear to increase the risk of ductal breast cancer – the most common type of the illness, concluded the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.