Study looks at alcohol and breast cancer

JACKSON, Miss., April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists, for the first time, have used a laboratory mouse model to study the development of human alcohol-induced breast cancer.

Alcohol consumption has long been established as a risk factor for breast cancer in women, with up to 60 percent of female breast cancers worldwide attributable to alcohol consumption.

The new research developed the first mouse breast cancer model in which 6-week-old female mice were fed a moderate amount of alcohol for four weeks -- the equivalent of two drinks per day in humans. Control mice received only drinking water.

In the second week of the experiment, mouse breast cancer cells were injected and at the end of the experiment, resulting tumors were isolated and examined.

The researchers found moderate alcohol consumption significantly increased the tumor size of breast cancer in mice, as well as tumor microvessel density and tissue protein levels.

The University of Mississippi Medical Center scientists said their findings demonstrate even moderate alcohol consumption significantly stimulates breast cancer tumor growth.

The study by Brandi Busby, Wei Tan, Jordan Covington, Emily Young and Jian-Wei Gu was presented in Washington during this week's annual meeting of the American Physiological Society.