Genes Involved With Alcohol Metabolism Associated With Increased Risk For Breast Cancer, Study Suggests

ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2008) — Specific variations within two genes involved with alcohol metabolism are associated with an increased risk for breast cancer in postmenopausal women, according to a new study. The work, conducted by research groups led by Peter Shields, M.D., professor of medicine and oncology at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center and Jo Freudenheim, Ph.D., chair of social and preventive medicine at the State University of New York at Buffalo, indicates that sequence variations within the genes ADH1B and ADH1C may as much as double a postmenopausal woman drinker's risk for breast cancer.