A new study suggests that tea drinking has a dual effect on the risk of breast cancer in women depending on the type of tea, the timing of tea consumption, and the drinker's menopausal status.
Early studies imply that consumption of teas particularly green tea, which is high in a type of tea polyphenol called epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), may be preventable against the development of breast cancer and other malignancies.
The current study of 756 incident breast cancer cases and 789 hospital controls reveals that regular tea drinking was overall not associated with risk of breast cancer while regular green tea drinking was linked to 20% higher risk for breast cancer among all women considered.
The menopausal status makes a difference. Regular tea drinking was associated with 38% reduced risk for breast cancer in the pre-menopausal women and 40% increased risk for the disease in post-menopausal women.
Estrogen receptor status also makes a difference. The study finds that green tea drinking was associated with 200% increased risk for ER- negative breast cancer among post-menopausal women.
The study merely establishes a correlation between tea drinking and risk of breast cancer, which vary by other factors such as the type of tea, estrogen receptor status and menopausal status. Trials need to be conducted to confirm the potential the preventative effect against breast cancer in pre-menopausal women.
Mengjie Lia, Lap Ah Tsea, , , Wing-cheong Chanb, Chi-hei Kwokc, Siu-lan Leungd, Cherry Wue, Wai-cho Yuf, Ignatius Tak-sun Yua, Chloe Hui-Tung Yug, Feng Wanga, Hyuna Sungh, Xiaohong R. Yangh, Evaluation of breast cancer risk associated with tea consumption by menopausal and estrogen receptor status among Chinese women in Hong Kong, Cancer Epidemiology, Volume 40, February 2016, Pages 73–78
