New Light Shed on Alcohol Breast Cancer Link Valerie Tejeda - The Fix
go to original April 24, 2012

Researchers track down the microscopic culprit responsible for increased cancer risk for drinkers.

Drinking alcohol has long been associated with breast cancer - up to 40 to 50% higher for women who drink three drinks a day - but medical professionals have never been able to explain why, but one research team thinks they have.

The team tracked a protein called CYP2E1 in breast tissue samples from healthy women. CYP2E1 is where most breast cancers originate and is found in the breast cells called the mammary epithelial cell, to which researchers administered ethanol. They found that cells that expressed low levels of CYP2E1 were almost immune to the ethanol, while cells with high levels of the protein began to produce carcinogenic free radicals.

"Our results showed that ethanol-treated human mammary cells had an increase in free radical production, oxidative stress and the activation of cellular mechanisms that cause cells to increase their proliferation rate," says Maria de Lourdes Rodriguez-Fragoso, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos in Mexico.

"So if you are a woman who naturally expresses higher levels of CYP2E1 and you consume alcohol, you would be at a greater risk for developing breast cancer than a woman who expresses lower amounts of CYP2E1." Rodriguez-Fragoso believes that with these results they will be able to develop a better method of diagnosis for breast cancer: "If you know the risk probability of certain behaviors on your likelihood of developing cancer, then you can better understand what preventative measures you should be taking.”

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