Your daily coffee habit might be doing more than just keeping you alert. A major new study suggests that drinking more than four cups of coffee per day could significantly reduce the risk of certain head and neck cancers, with both regular and decaffeinated coffee showing protective effects.
“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,” explains senior author Yuan-Chin Amy Lee of the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The research, published in the journal Cancer, analyzed data from 14 studies worldwide, including over 25,000 participants. The findings show that heavy coffee drinkers (more than 4 cups daily) had 17% lower odds of developing head and neck cancer overall, with even stronger protection against specific types – 30% lower risk for oral cavity cancer and 22% lower risk for throat cancer.
Surprisingly, even decaffeinated coffee showed benefits, associated with 25% lower odds of oral cavity cancer. Tea drinkers also saw some protection, though the relationship was more complex. Moderate tea consumption (one cup or less daily) was linked to lower risks of certain cancers, but higher consumption was associated with increased risk of laryngeal 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,” Lee notes.
The study’s scope makes it particularly significant. Head and neck cancers are the seventh most common cancers worldwide, with rates rising in low- and middle-income countries. This analysis, conducted by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium, represents the largest examination of coffee and tea’s relationship with these cancers to date.
While the research shows promise, it’s part of ongoing efforts to understand how common beverages might help prevent cancer. The findings were drawn from detailed questionnaires about participants’ consumption patterns of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea.
The research was funded primarily by the National Cancer Institute and published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer.
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