Binge drink 'breast cancer link'

Binge drinking is linked to 2,000 breast cancers every year

A cancer charity has urged women to stop binge drinking if they want to cut their risk of breast cancer.

Cardiff-based Tenovus said almost 2,000 cases of the disease each year are linked to women's alcohol intake.

It says almost one in five women drinks over three units of alcohol every day. The Department of Health says one 175ml glass of wine is around two units.

Simon Morgan-Jones, a specialist cancer nurse, said it was feared women were storing up health problems.

About 42,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Tenovus is asking women of all ages to look after their breasts and to stop binge drinking.

It's very easy to go over the daily recommended limit and the more you do that, the more you are increasing your risk of breast cancer and other diseases Simon Morgan-Jones

Mr Morgan-Jones said: "If you go into any town centre of a weekend night, you see kids of the age of 13-14 upwards, certainly drinking well over the recommended units a day and much more than is wise anyway.

"With breast cancer, it seem that excessive alcohol intake increases the amount of oestrogen in the body, and we know that overexposure to oestrogen is a risk factor, probably the biggest."

"We would certainly recommend that women do not drink in excess on a regular basis.

'Stoical'

"It would silly to say not to drink alcohol at all, but if you drink, then there will be occasions when you drink to excess.

"But it's very easy to go over the daily recommended limit and the more you do that, the more you are increasing your risk of breast cancer and other diseases."

Men can get breast cancer, though the number of cases are still small

The charity is also reminding men that they too have a small chance of contracting the disease.

About 300 of the 42,000 breast cancer cases annually are men.

Although the numbers are small, they are increasing, said Mr Morgan-Jones, who works as a specialist oncology nurse treating men with prostate cancer, at Singleton Hospital, Swansea.

He said breast cancer tended to strike men in their 60s and 70s.

He said: "It's very difficult for them. At that age, they tend to be quite stoical about things and ignore the symptoms and think it's part of ageing.

"Breast cancer is something that most people don't tend to consider as something that a man could get."

Last year, Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party, who grew up in south Wales, spoke out about how his father's death from breast cancer had affected him.

The Tenovus freephone cancer helpline is 0808 808 1010