At the question “Can you drink alcohol after breast cancer?“, researchers from Kaiser Permanente, California, answer “yes”. large prospective study of more than 4,500 women diagnosed at this care center with invasive breast cancer between 2005 and 2013, indeed suggests that alcohol consumption “is not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer recurrence or death by disease”.
Alcohol is a known risk factor for breast cancer
As we know, alcohol is one of the “avoidable” risk factors in the appearance of breast cancer. And this risk increases as alcohol consumption increases. “For this reason, we thought that alcohol consumption after breast cancer diagnosis may increase the risk of recurrence. But our study found that, overall, alcohol consumption after breast cancer diagnosis breast has no impact on the prognosis of a patient” underlines the Pre Marilyn Kwan, main author of the study.
Treatment also involves quality of life
“After a breast cancer diagnosis, patients often focus on lifestyle changes that might help them live longer,” the researchers add. The goal of our study is to provide breast cancer survivors and their doctors with information that can help them make decisions that will improve both their treatment and their quality of life.”
However, health authorities recommend not to drink more than one glass of alcohol per day. And they also recall that the practice of physical activity is also part of the “anti-recurrence” plan, since it reduces the risk of relapse for localized breast cancer by 24%.
Source : Alcohol consumption and prognosis and survival in breast cancer survivors: The Pathways StudyAmerican cancer society, August 2023
