People who drink coffee or tea every day have a 20-30% lower risk of cancer above the neck
These drinks, which are popular around the world, have been linked to a variety of positive health effects, including a
Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium - Nguyen - Cancer - Wiley Online Library
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.35620
Drinking tea and coffee linked to lower risk of head and neck cancer in study | Medical research | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/23/drinking-tea-and-coffee-linked-to-lower-risk-of-head-and-neck-cancer-in-study
According to a research team led by Yuanqing Amy Li of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the world, with approximately 745,000 new cases and 364,000 deaths reported in 2020 alone. Although the incidence is declining in high-income countries, the incidence of oropharyngeal cancer has been steadily increasing due to the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV).
In a study published in the American Cancer Society journal Cancer on December 23, 2024, Lee and his colleagues analyzed data from a total of 14 studies conducted in Europe, the United States, and South America. These studies included questionnaires asking participants about their coffee and tea consumption patterns, and nine of the studies also asked about decaffeinated coffee. The specific type of tea was not determined, such as black tea, green tea, or oolong tea, but the research team noted that all of the areas surveyed were areas where black tea is commonly consumed.
The researchers analyzed data from 9,548 head and neck cancer patients and 15,783 control participants and found that drinking four or more cups of caffeinated coffee per day was associated with a 17% lower risk of overall head and neck cancer, a 30% lower risk of oral cancer, and a 22% lower risk of oropharyngeal cancer. Drinking three to four cups per day was associated with a 41% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer.
Decaffeinated coffee was found to be inversely associated with oral cancer risk, with people who consumed an average of 0 to 1 cup per day having a 34% lower risk of oral cancer.
On the other hand, frequent tea drinkers had a 29% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer, and those who consumed 0 to 1 cup per day in particular had a 9% lower risk of head and neck cancer and a 27% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer.
Commenting on the results, Dr Lee said: 'Previous studies have linked coffee and tea consumption to reduced cancer risk, but this study highlights the different effects across different sites of head and neck cancer, including the observation that decaffeinated coffee also had some beneficial effects.'
Because decaffeinated coffee also showed some benefit, the research team believes that other bioactive compounds, particularly polyphenols, may contribute to the anti-cancer effects of coffee and tea.
In addition, while previous studies have shown an inverse association between green tea and oral cancer risk, this study showed that drinking one or more cups of tea per day increased the risk of pharyngeal cancer by 38%.
Previous studies have focused on data from Asia, where green tea is widely consumed. However, as mentioned above, black tea is widely consumed in the regions covered by this study. The research team speculates that the results may have been influenced by the fact that 'black tea is oxidized, so has a lower concentration of catechins and therefore a lower antioxidant effect than green tea,' and that ' the theophylline contained in tea may cause gastroesophageal reflux disease.'
'These findings support a reduced risk of head and neck cancer in coffee and tea drinkers,' the team concluded in their paper.
'People who drink a lot of coffee or tea may have a lower risk of cancer because they're more likely to avoid other harmful behaviours, such as drinking alcohol or smoking,' Tom Sanders, a nutritionist at King's College London who was not involved in the study, told The Guardian.
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