Opinions - Booze Boosts Tumor Size

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http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2...boosts_tu.html

Alcohol consumption has long been known as a risk factor for breast cancer, but the how and why of this increased risk has remained elusive. A new mouse model of the disease offers some insight:

DrinkFor 4 weeks, 6-week old female mice consumed regular drinking water or water containing 1 percent alcohol, which is equivalent to about 2 to 4 drinks in humans. In week 2, the animals were inoculated with mouse breast cancer cells.

"We found after about 4 weeks that breast tumor size almost doubled in mice that drank alcohol compared to control mice given plain water," Gu noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. Moderate alcohol intake also caused a noteworthy increase in tumor blood vessels compared with no alcohol intake.

Alcohol boosted the production of a growth factor known as vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, in tumor cells. The increased levels of VEGF promoted the formation of new blood vessels in a process known as angiogenesis, which allows tumors to grow and metastasize.

The National Cancer Institute provides an easy-to-understand description of angiogenesis' contribution to cancer.