Women's breast-cancer risk rises in relation to how much alcohol they consume, according to a new study from Denmark.

Medical News Today reported April 23 that a study tracking 17,647 women ages 45 and up over an eight-year span found that 457 developed breast cancer. The authors determined that women who consumed between 22 and 27 alcoholic drinks weekly was 2.3 times more likely to get breast cancer than those who consumed just 1 to 3 drinks weekly. For each alcoholic drink consumed in a week, breast cancer risk rose 2 percent, according to author Lina Mørch of Denmark's Center for Alcohol Research and colleagues.

Women who were weekly binge drinkers increased their risk by 55 percent compared to those who only had one drink.

"For alcohol consumption above the intake most frequently reported, the risk of breast cancer is increased. The risk is minor for moderate levels but increases for each additional drink consumed during the week," the authors wrote. "Weekend consumption and binge drinking imply an additional increase in breast cancer risk."

The study was published online in The European Journal of Public Health.