Around 20 New Zealand women die a year from breast cancer linked to consuming fewer than two alcoholic drinks a day on average, a new University of Otago study has found.
Drinking alcohol is a known cause of various types of cancer.
"About 60 per cent of all alcohol-attributable cancer deaths in New Zealand women are from breast cancer," said Professor Jennie Connor, the lead author of the new study, published in the international journal Drug and Alcohol Review.
"We estimated 71 breast cancer deaths in 2007 and 65 in 2012 were due to drinking, and about a third of these were associated with drinking less than two drinks a day on average.
"Although risk of cancer is much higher in heavy drinkers there are fewer of them, and many alcohol-related breast cancers occur in women who are drinking at levels that are currently considered acceptable," she said.