Just one alcoholic drink a day can boost a woman's risk of breast cancer by about 5 percent, according to a new review of existing research.
Heavier drinking -- three or more drinks a day -- can increase risk up to 50 percent, according to researchers from Germany, France and Italy.
"Alcohol consumption is causally related with breast cancer," the study authors concluded after reviewing 113 prior studies. They attributed 2 percent of breast cancer cases in Europe and North America to light drinking alone, and about 50,000 cases worldwide to heavy drinking.
The research seems to confirm the expert advice for women to minimize drinking, said study leader Dr. Helmut Seitz, professor of medicine, gastroenterology and alcohol research at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
The findings suggest that healthy women at average risk of breast cancer should not consume more than one alcoholic drink a day, the authors said.
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