The link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer is unaffected by the type of alcohol being consumed, researchers have found.
A study by experts from Kaiser Permanente looked at the drinking habits of 70,033 women between 1978 and 1985.
Dr Arthur Klatsky, an investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in California, said: 'Population 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.'
The researchers found no difference between the effects of wine, beer and spirits on breast cancer risk.
However, the quantity of alcohol consumed did have an effect on breast cancer risk, with women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day having a ten per cent greater risk of the disease than those who had less than one daily drink.
Women who consumed more than three alcoholic beverages per day had a 30 per cent increased risk of developing breast cancer.
'Incidentally, in previous research completed at Kaiser Permanente, we have found that smoking a pack of cigarettes or more per day is related to a similar (30 per cent) increased risk of breast cancer,' Dr Klatsky added.
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