Alcohol consumption and incidence of benign breast disease

We evaluated whether moderate alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk of developing benign breast disease (BBD), a potential "precursor" or marker for breast cancer development. This study evaluated associations between reported alcohol consumption and BBD diagnosis among 75, 826 women in the Nurses' Health Study II. Between 1989 and 1997, 16, 035 women reported a first diagnosis of BBD (317/10, 000 person-years), of which 2, 999 diagnoses were confirmed by tissue biopsy (59/10, 000 person-years). Of the pathology specimens reviewed, 532 were nonproliferative benign breast conditions, and 932 were proliferative conditions. Person-time models provided estimates of the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Reported recent adult consumption of alcohol was not associated with increased BBD incidence. Compared with women who did not drink alcohol, the age- and body mass index (BMI)-adjusted RRs for any reported BBD were 0.98 (95% CI, 0.95-1.02) for those who consume