Brewing Evidence that Drinking Coffee Protects Against Cancer

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 It was recently reported that coffee drinkers are less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes. 

The results of a large study of older adults were observed after adjustment for the effects of other risk factors on mortality, such as smoking and alcohol consumption.

Reference:

Freedman ND, Park Y, Abnet CC, Hollenbeck AR, Sinha R. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality. N Engl J Med. 2012; 366:1891-904.

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Now, a new study finds a strong inverse association between caffeinated coffee intake and oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality.

Consumption of More than 4 Cups per Day linked to Significantly Lower Risk of Death from Some Cancers

Previous epidemiologic studies have suggested that coffee intake is associated with reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer. To explore the finding further, researchers examined associations of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea intake with fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a prospective U.S. cohort study begun in 1982 by the American Cancer Society.

Among 968,432 men and women who were cancer-free at enrollment, 868 deaths due to oral/pharyngeal cancer occurred during 26 years of follow-up. The researchers found consuming more than four cups of caffeinated coffee per day was associated with a 49 percent lower risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer death relative to no/occasional coffee intake (RR 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-0.64). A dose-related decline in relative risk was observed with each single cup per day consumed. The association was independent of sex, smoking status, or alcohol use. There was a suggestion of a similar link among those who drank more than two cups per day of decaffeinated coffee, although that finding was only marginally significant. No association was found for tea drinking.

The findings are novel in that they are based specifically upon fatal cases of oral/pharyngeal cancer occurring over a 26-year period in a population of prospectively-followed individuals who were cancer-free at enrollment in Cancer Prevention Study II.

“Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and contains a variety of antioxidants, polyphenols, and other biologically active compounds that may help to protect against development or progression of cancers,” said lead author Janet Hildebrand, MPH.

Although it is less common in the United States, oral/pharyngeal cancer is among the ten most common cancers in the world.

“Our finding strengthens the evidence of a possible protective effect of caffeinated coffee in the etiology and/or progression of cancers of the mouth and pharynx. It may be of considerable interest to investigate whether coffee consumption can lead to a better prognosis after oral/pharyngeal cancer diagnosis.”

The authors say more research is needed to elucidate the biologic mechanisms that could be at work.

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The above story is based on the December 10, 2012 press release by American Cancer Society.

The research is published on December 9, 2012 in the American Journal of Epidemiology:                                                                                                               

Hildebrand JS, Patel AV, McCullough ML, Gaudet MM, Chen AY, Hayes RB, Gapstur   SM. Coffee, Tea, and Fatal Oral/Pharyngeal Cancer in a Large Prospective US Cohort. Am. J. Epidemiol. (2012) doi: 10.1093/aje/kws222 First published online:

Coffee drinkers were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, although the association was not seen for cancer. These results from a large study of older adults were observed after adjustment for the effects of other risk factors on mortality, such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Researchers caution, however, that they can't be sure whether these associations mean that drinking coffee actually makes people live longer. The results of the study were published in the May 17, 2012 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Freedman ND, Park Y, Abnet CC, Hollenbeck AR, Sinha R. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality. N Engl J Med. 2012; 366:1891-904. FULL TEXT http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1112010

Comment on “Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality”

Vaz Carneiro, António;

Next Document Rev Port Cardiol. 2012;31:627-8.

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Full Text

Panel

Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality.

Freedman ND, Park Y, Abnet CC, Hollenbeck AR, Sinha R. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:1891–904.

Abstract

Background: Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages, but the association between coffee consumption and the risk of death remains unclear.

Methods: We examined the association of coffee drinking with subsequent total and cause-specific mortality among 229119 men and 173141 women in the National Institutes of Health – AARP Diet and Health Study who were 50–71 years of age at baseline. Participants with cancer, heart disease, and stroke were excluded. Coffee consumption was assessed once at baseline.

Results: During 5148760 person-years of follow-up between 1995 and 2008, a total of 33731 men and 18784 women died. In age-adjusted models, the risk of death was increased among coffee drinkers. However, coffee drinkers were also more likely to smoke, and, after adjustment for tobacco-smoking status and other potential confounders, there was a significant inverse association between coffee consumption and mortality. Adjusted hazard ratios for death among men who drank coffee as compared with those who did not were as follows: 0.99 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.95 to 1.04) for drinking less than 1 cup per day, 0.94 (95% CI, 0.90 to 0.99) for 1 cup, 0.90 (95% CI, 0.86 to 0.93) for 2 or 3 cups, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.84 to 0.93) for 4 or 5 cups, and 0.90 (95% CI, 0.85 to 0.96) for 6 or more cups of coffee per day (P<0 .001=".001" 0.78="0.78" 0.79="0.79" 0.83="0.83" 0.84="0.84" 0.85="0.85" 0.87="0.87" 0.90="0.90" 0.92="0.92" 0.93="0.93" 0.95="0.95" 0.96="0.96" 1.01="1.01" 1.07="1.07" accidents="accidents" among="among" and="and" associations="associations" at="at" baseline.="baseline." but="but" cancer.="cancer." ci="ci" deaths="deaths" diabetes="diabetes" disease="disease" due="due" excellent="excellent" for="for" good="good" had="had" hazard="hazard" health="health" heart="heart" in="in" including="including" infections="infections" injuries="injuries" inverse="inverse" never="never" not="not" observed="observed" p="p" persons="persons" ratios="ratios" reported="reported" respective="respective" respiratory="respiratory" results="results" similar="similar" smoked="smoked" span="span" stroke="stroke" subgroups="subgroups" the="the" to="to" trend="trend" very="very" were="were" who="who" women="women">

Conclusions: In this large prospective study, coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality. Whether this was a causal or associational finding cannot be determined from our data.

 

Comment

Coffee is the most widely used stimulant beverage in the world. Caffeine is the active substance of coffee and belongs to the methylxanthine pharmacological group.

 

Coffee is a complex mixture of thousands of chemical components, including carbohydrates, nitrogenates, lipids, minerals, vitamins, alkaloids and phenols.

 

Due to its widespread consumption, coffee constitutes a major concern for many people, and, it must be admitted, does not have a good reputation: some of my students, when presenting a case at the bedside, include coffee alongside smoking as a major cardiovascular risk factor.

 

This myth – because it really is a myth – is very hard to contradict, even though there are many studies showing that coffee prevents type 2 diabetes mellitus,1 dementia,2

Parkinson's disease3 and liver cancer.4

 

With regard to cardiovascular disease, coffee seems to have very little effect on normal individuals but may slightly increase blood pressure in hypertensive patients5, and probably increases atrial fibrillation incidence6.

 

The present study7 looks at the relationship between coffee intake and subsequent total and cause-specific mortality among 229119 men and 173141 women in the National Institutes of Health AARP Diet and Health Study.

 

Analyzing a total of 5148760 person-years of follow-up between 1995 and 2008, the author found that the risk of death was increased among coffee drinkers but, after adjustment for tobacco-smoking status and other potential confounders, there was a significant inverse association between coffee consumption and mortality, with hazard ratios between 1.01 and 0.84, i.e. ranging from a small increase of 0.1% to a decrease of 16%. Inverse associations were observed for deaths due to heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, injuries and accidents, diabetes, and infections, but not for deaths due to cancer.

 

This study, by showing that coffee consumption was inversely associated with total and cause-specific mortality, should put to rest fears about this beverage, which, like anything else, should be taken in moderation.

 

Conflicts of interest

The author has no conflict of interest to declare.

 

Bibliography

1.van Dam RM, Feskens EJ. Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lancet. 2002; 360:1477-8.
Medline
2.Santos C, Costa J, Santos J, Vaz-Carneiro A, Lunet A. Caffeine intake and dementia: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Alzheimer's Dis. 2010; 20:S187-204.
3.Costa J, Lunet N, Santos C, Santos J, Vaz-Carneiro A. Caffeine exposure and the risk of Parkinson's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. J Alzheimer's Dis. 2010; 20:S221-38.
4.Larsson SC, Wolk A. Coffee consumption and risk of liver cancer: a meta-analysis. Gastroenterology. 2007; 132:1740-5.
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5.Noordzij M, Uiterwaal CS, Arends LR, Kok FJ, Grobbee DE, Geleijnse JM. Blood pressure response to chronic intake of coffee and caffeine: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. J Hypertens. 2005; 23:921-8.
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6.Mattioli AV, Bonatti S, Zennaro M, Melotti R, Mattioli G. Effect of coffee consumption, lifestyle and acute life stress in the development of acute lone atrial fibrillation. J Cardiovasc Med. 2008; 9:794-8.
7.Freedman ND, Park Y, Abnet CC, Hollenbeck AR, Sinha R. Association of coffee drinking with total and cause-specific mortality. N Engl J Med. 2012; 366:1891-904.
Medline

António Vaz Carneiro ^a, ,

^a Membro do Corpo Redatorial da Revista Portuguesa de Cardiologia, Portugal