A new study suggests that drinking coffee and tea could decrease the risk of head and neck cancers. Researchers found that high caffeine consumption, even from decaffeinated coffee, and moderate tea intake are linked to lower cancer risks.
In an inspiring breakthrough, new research has revealed that coffee and tea consumption could play a significant role in reducing the risk of developing head and neck cancers, including cancers of the mouth and throat.
Published by Wileyonline in the CANCER journal, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Cancer Society, the study compiles data from more than a dozen studies associated with the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium. This global collaboration brought together data from 14 separate studies, involving 9,548 patients with head and neck cancer and 15,783 cancer-free controls.
The research found that individuals who consumed more than four cups of caffeinated coffee daily had 17% lower odds of developing head and neck cancer overall. Specifically, the study reports a 30% reduction in the odds of oral cavity cancer and a 22% reduction in throat cancer.
Furthermore, drinking three to four cups of caffeinated coffee daily was linked to a remarkable 41% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer, a type of cancer located at the bottom of the throat.
“While there has been prior research on coffee and tea consumption and reduced risk of cancer, this study highlighted their varying effects with different sub-sites of head and neck cancer, including the observation that even decaffeinated coffee had some positive impact,” senior author Yuan-Chin Amy Lee, an adjunct associate professor for the Division of Public Health in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah and an investigator at Huntsman Cancer Institute, said in a news release.
The findings also extend to decaffeinated coffee and tea. Drinking decaffeinated coffee was associated with a 25% lower risk of oral cavity cancer, while tea drinkers saw a 29% reduction in the odds of hypopharyngeal cancer.
However, the study also noted that drinking more than one cup of tea daily was associated with a 38% increase in the odds of laryngeal cancer, shedding light on the complexity of these beverages’ effects.
Head and neck cancer ranks as the seventh most common cancer worldwide, with its prevalence rising particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This discovery is a beacon of hope for many who are at risk, underpinning the need for further research to fully understand the potential cancer-preventative properties of coffee and tea.
“Coffee and tea habits are fairly complex, and these findings support the need for more data and further studies around the impact that coffee and tea can have on reducing cancer risk,” Lee added.