Does dietary folate intake modify effect of alcohol consumption on breast cancer risk? Prospective cohort study

Dear Editor,

As a female doctor who enjoys a glass of red wine with her dinner I
read with interest the article by Baglietto et al, (1), regarding dietry
folate intake and whether it modifies the effect on breast cancer from
alcohol.

At baseline a structured interview was used to obtain information
about potential risk factors including age, sex (?), country of birth,
education, reproductive history and alcohol consumption. Similarly, other
potential confounders were examined including eduction, Body Mass Index,
age at menarche, Hormone Replacement Therapy, parity and use of
multivitamins.

I was surprised that missing from this list was family history of
breast cancer in first degree relatives, smoking and use of oral
contraceptive pill. I wondered if this information was collected and if so
did it affect the results?

Reference
1. Baglietto, L., et al., Does dietary folate intake modify effect of
alcohol consumption on breast cancer risk? Prospective cohort study. Bmj,
2005.

Competing interests:
None declared