Drinking coffee may moderately reduce the risk of melanoma, the fifth most common cancer in the United States, according to a study recently published in Journal of National Cancer Institute.
The study led by Erikka Loftfield from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland and colleagues showed people who drank 4 or more cups of coffee were 20% less likely to be diagnosed with malignant melanoma than those who drank no coffee.
And those who drank 4 or more cups of caffeinated coffee were 25% less likely to develop melanoma than non-drinkers while drinking decaffeinated coffee was not associated with the risk.
The study was based from 447,357 non-Hispanic whites who were free of cancer at baseline and enrolled in the National Institutes of Health–AARP prospective cohort study. Participants were followed up for a median of 10.5 years during which 2904 incident cases of malignant melanoma were recorded.
Coffee drinking has been found associated with increased risk of and reduced risk of liver cancer, according to previous studies. It should be noted that none of the studies are trials, which mean drinking coffee may or may not be a factor that affect the risk of melanoma, liver cancer or prostate cancer.
