-Which of the criteria to assess causality is described by eachof the following statements regarding the association betweenalcohol consumption and breast cancer?
- Usual alcohol consumption was assessed among women who wereinitially free of disease at the beginning of a long-term,prospective study. After five-years of follow-up, there was agreater incidence of breast cancer for women who reported anyalcohol consumption compared to the incidence of breast cancer fromwomen who did not drink alcohol.
- It is generally recognized that estrogen plays an importantrole in the development of breast cancer. Recently, the serumconcentrations of estrogen and other steroid hormones were elevatedfor women after they consumed a known amount of alcohol over atwo-month period compared to their serum concentrations before theydrank the alcohol.
- There appears to be a 50 percent greater risk of breast canceramong moderate alcohol consumers compared to abstainers.
- A statistically significant association between alcohol andbreast cancer was observed in 20 of 30 epidemiological studies ofdifferent populations of women.
- From the evidence presented in 2 a-d, do you believe theassociation between alcohol and breast cancer is causal? If yes,why do you think so? If not, what other criteria would you mostlike to see evidence of to know if this association is causal?
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