Influence of alcohol consumption and alcohol metabolism variants on breast cancer risk among Black women: results from the AMBER consortium

Abstract Background Moderate to heavy alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The etiologic role of genetic variation in genes involved in ethanol metabolism has not been established, with little information available among women of African ancestry. Methods Our analysis from the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk (AMBER) Consortium included 2889 U.S. Black women who were current drinkers at the time of breast cancer diagnosis (N cases = 715) and had available genetic data for four ethanol metabolism genomic regions (ADH, ALDH, CYP2E1, and ALDH2). We used generalized estimating equations to calculate genetic effects, gene* alcohol consumption (≥ 7drinks/week vs.