Cancer link with alcohol recognised

The New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation has turned down fundraising events that are too focused on alcohol, chief executive Evangelia Henderson says.

Mrs Henderson was asked for comment on new University of Otago research showing that moderate drinking puts women at increased risk from breast cancer.

On its "pink ribbon'' fundraising website, the Breast Cancer Foundation suggests ``bubbles and brunch'' as a potential theme for events.

Mrs Henderson said the foundation did not support events that "centre around alcohol''.

"If someone is running an event to raise funds for us and they want to offer people a glass of bubbly, we don't have a problem with that.

"However, we have turned down registrations for events that are heavily alcohol-focused,'' she said.

Mrs Henderson said the link between breast cancer and alcohol was well established.

"So we'd say this study isn't news for us, though it's always good [to] reinforce the message.''

The foundation had had information on its website for "a while'' suggesting women limit their intake to one drink per day.

It was important to consider other risk factors for cancer, such as obesity.

Whether people developed cancer was influenced by many things, and it was not helpful to blame one cause, Mrs Henderson said.

Asked for a response, lead study author Prof Jennie Connor, of the department of preventive and social medicine, said the researchers were ``not interested in blaming anything or anyone''.

"Equally, we are not interested in pretending that alcohol is not an important modifiable cause of cancer.''

The researchers were well aware that cancer had many causes, Prof Connor said.

"Breast cancer is notable that it is more sensitive to alcohol than other cancers and so many cases occur in women who do not drink at extreme levels.

"This is an empowering message - that women can reduce their risk easily.

"Reducing from two drinks a day, on average, to one drink a day on average will reduce risk by 10%,'' Prof Connor said.

eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz

 

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