The relationship between alcohol and breast cancer is known but
there has been little data on whether the choice of drink made a
difference, they told a European Cancer Conference. In what the
researchers said was one of the largest studies to investigate
links between breast cancer and alcohol – found that alcohol
itself and the amount a person consumed were key rather than the
type of drink. "Studies have consistently linked drinking
alcohol to an increased risk of female breast cancer, but until
now there has been little data, most of it conflicting, about an
independent role played by the choice of beverage type," Arthur
Klatsky of Kaiser Permanente in California and one of the
researchers said. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer
killer of women, after lung cancer. It will be diagnosed in 1.2
million people globally this year and will kill 500 000. Other
studies have shown that light- to moderate alcohol use can
protect against heart attacks, though Klatsky said other
mechanisms were probably