The habit of drinking coffee could significantly reduce the risk of developing cancer in the head and neck, along with cancers of the mouth and throat, according to a new study.
The findings published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society revealed that individuals who drink more than four cups of coffee every day have a 17 percent lower chance of developing cancers in head and neck compared to their non-coffee-drinking peers.
Head and neck cancer is the seventh most prevalent cancer worldwide. Even though several previous studies have suggested the link between coffee in preventing such cancers, no conclusive evidence has been made yet.
Coffee to Prevent Cancer
According to the new study report, people who regularly consume coffee have a 30 percent lower odds of having cancer of the oral cavity, and 22 percent lower odds of having throat cancer.
Additionally, drinking three to four cups of caffeinated coffee was linked with a 41 percent lower risk of having hypopharyngeal cancer, a type of cancer at the bottom of the throat.
Moreover, drinking decaffeinated coffee was associated with 25 percent lower odds of oral cavity cancer.
"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," said Yuan-Chin Amy Lee, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Benefits of Drinking Tea
The study report revealed that dinking tea was linked with 29 percent lower odds of hypopharyngeal cancer.
Moreover, drinking 1 cup or less of tea daily was linked with a 9 percent lower risk of head and neck cancer overall and a 27 percent lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer.
"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,"added Lee.
However, the report warned that drinking more than 1 cup was associated with 38 percent higher odds of laryngeal cancer.
