People who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day have a 50% reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer, compared to those who only occasionally or never drink coffee, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Previous epidemiologic studies have suggested that coffee intake is associated with reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer. To explore the finding further, American Cancer Society researchers examined associations of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea intake with fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II.
Among 968,432 men and women who were cancer-free at enrollment, 868 deaths due to oral/pharyngeal cancer occurred during 26 years of follow-up. The researchers found consuming more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day was associated with a 49% lower risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer death relative to no/occasional coffee intake. A dose-related decline in relative risk was observed with each single cup per day consumed. The association was independent of sex, smoking status or alcohol use. There was a suggestion of a similar link among those who drank more than two cups per day of decaffeinated coffee, although that finding was only marginally significant. No association was found for tea drinking.
The findings are novel in that they are based specifically upon fatal cases of oral/pharyngeal cancer occurring over a 26-year period in a population of prospectively-followed individuals who were cancer-free at enrollment in Cancer Prevention Study II.
“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," said lead author Janet Hildebrand, MPH. “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. It may be of considerable interest to investigate whether coffee consumption can lead to a better prognosis after oral/pharyngeal cancer diagnosis."
A study published last year in the journal Breast Cancer Research found women who drink five or more cups of coffee a day may reduce their risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer compared to women who rarely drink coffee.
