Story at a glance
- The study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition looked at genetic data from more than 580,000 people in the United Kingdom and Finland.
- Researchers from Cambridge University compared participants not by their reported level of coffee consumption, but according to whether they had genetic variants predisposing them to increased or decreased coffee or tea consumption.
- The study found that people with a genetic score associated with a 50 percent increase in coffee consumption were at 2.8 times the risk of esophageal cancer than non-drinkers.
People who regularly drink hot coffee or tea may be at an increased risk of developing throat cancer as consuming hot liquids can damage the lining of the esophagus, according to a recent study.
The study published in the journal Clinical Nutrition looked at genetic data from more than 580,000 people in the United Kingdom and Finland. Researchers from Cambridge University compared participants not by their reported level of coffee consumption, but according to whether they had genetic variants predisposing them to increased or decreased coffee or tea consumption.
Researchers conducted the analysis this way to account for variables that may have skewed the results of past research, for example, coffee drinkers also tend to consume more alcohol than non-coffee drinkers, which could explain an increased risk for cancer. The genes associated with coffee and tea consumption, however, are not correlated to drinking alcohol.
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The study found that people with a genetic score associated with a 50 percent increase in coffee consumption were at 2.8 times the risk of esophageal cancer than non-drinkers. Meanwhile, participants who said they preferred their coffee “hot” had a 5.5-fold increase in risk, those who enjoyed it “very hot” had a 4.1-fold increase in risk and “warm” coffee drinkers experienced a 2.7-fold increase in developing cancer in the esophagus.
Importantly, the study’s findings show that coffee and tea consumption did not appear to increase the risk of any other types of cancers. Researchers say a potential explanation for increased risk of throat cancer is the physical damage to the body’s digestive system from the hot liquid, rather than a cancer-causing effect directly from coffee or caffeine.
“While a link with any cancer type is unwelcome, our investigation generally provides good news for coffee drinkers, as there was no evidence supporting a causal effect of coffee consumption on any major cancer type,” Stephen Burgess, the study’s author, said in a statement.
Esophageal cancer is a rare type of cancer, making up only about 1 percent of cancer cases in the U.S., although the overall survival rate for this type of cancer is about 20 percent.
Previous studies on the pros and cons of drinking coffee have been mixed. Recent research has shown moderate coffee consumption is associated with a longer life span, while other studies have linked the beverage with lower odds of developing type 3 diabetes, depression and other conditions.
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