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Alcohol, adolescents and breast disease
Cancer (2012) 118:2796-803

Avoiding alcohol during adolescence may help girls with a family history of benign breast disease (BBD) or breast cancer reduce their risk of developing breast conditions.

Recent research found that even light drinking increases breast cancer risk. Now a new study shows that young women whose mothers or aunts developed breast cancer are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with BBD (odds ratio 2.34), another established risk factor for the malignancy, than those without a family history.

Maternal BBD increased the risk that their daughters would develop BBD by 59 per cent. Among adolescents whose mother, aunt or grandmother developed breast cancer, a daily drink (around two units) more than doubled BBD risk (OR 2.28). Among adolescents whose mother had BBD, a daily drink almost doubled BBD risk (OR 1.96).

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