Drinking more than 4 cups per day also lowered odds of dying
from a type of throat cancer
TUESDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) — People who drink more than four cups of
caffeinated coffee daily could significantly reduce their risk of death from
certain forms of cancer, according to a new study from the American Cancer
Society.
Habitual coffee drinkers had about half the risk of dying from cancers of the
mouth and pharynx (part of the throat) than others who never drank coffee or
only had it occasionally, the researchers found.
"Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and
contains a variety of antioxidants, polyphenols, and other biologically active
compounds that may help to protect against development or progression of
cancers," the study's lead author, Janet Hildebrand, said in a society news
release. "Although it is less common in the United States, oral/pharyngeal
cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in the world. Our finding strengthens
the evidence of a possible protective effect of caffeinated coffee in the
etiology and/or progression of cancers of the mouth and pharynx."
In conducting the study, the researchers analyzed data on almost a million
people from an American Cancer Society study on cancer prevention that began in
1982. Specifically, they examined the link between drinking caffeinated coffee,
decaf, or tea with deadly forms of oral cancer.
The participants did not have cancer when the study began. Over the course of
26 years, however, 868 of them died of cancer of the mouth and pharynx.
The study found that drinking more than four cups of caffeinated coffee daily
was linked to a 49 percent lower risk of death from oral cancer. Regardless of
sex or whether or not the participants smoked or drank alcohol, the researchers
pointed out that with each cup of coffee they consumed, their risk of death from
this form of cancer dropped.
The study also suggests that drinking more than two cups of decaf coffee per
day may have a similar benefit, but this finding only reached marginal
statistical significance. No link was found between oral cancer and tea, they
added.
The study authors noted that more research is needed to understand the
reasons why coffee has a protective effect against oral cancers.
