Drinking coffee and tea may protect against common cancers

A comprehensive analysis of data from more than 14 scientific studies has revealed that coffee and tea consumption may have a protective effect against some types of head and neck cancer, including mouth and throat cancer.

Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer worldwide, with rates higher in low- and middle-income countries.

Several studies have evaluated whether drinking coffee or tea is associated with head and neck cancer, but the results have been inconsistent.

To provide additional insights, the study, published in the journal Cancer, examined data from 14 studies conducted by different researchers associated with the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium, a collaboration of research groups around the world.

Study participants completed questionnaires about their previous consumption of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee and tea, whether daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

When the researchers collected information on 9,548 patients with head and neck cancer and 15,783 patients without cancer, they found that compared with non-coffee drinkers, individuals who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day had a 17% lower risk of overall head and neck cancer, a 30% lower risk of oral cavity cancer, and a 22% lower risk of throat cancer.

Drinking three to four cups of caffeinated coffee was associated with a 41% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer (a type of cancer in the lower part of the throat).

Drinking decaffeinated coffee was also associated with a 25% lower risk of oral cavity cancer. Drinking tea was associated with a 29% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer.

Drinking one cup or less of tea per day was associated with a 9% lower risk of head and neck cancer overall, and a 27% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer, but drinking more than one cup was associated with a 38% higher risk of laryngeal cancer.

“While there has been previous research on coffee and tea consumption and reduced cancer risk, this study highlights their varying effects on different types of head and neck cancer, including the observation that decaffeinated coffee had some positive effect,” said lead author Yuan Chen-Aimee Li, Ph.D., of the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine.

He continued: "Coffee and tea consumption habits are somewhat complex, and these results support the need for more data and additional studies on the effect that coffee and tea can have on reducing the risk of cancer."

Source: Express