The Daily Populous Thursday January 9th, 2025 night edition
Authored by jpost.com and submitted by deadhead4ever

A new study published in the American Cancer Society journal Cancer revealed that consuming coffee and tea may be linked to a reduced risk of head and neck cancers. Researchers analyzed data from over 25,000 individuals across 14 studies, including 9,548 patients with head and neck cancer and 15,783 cancer-free controls, to assess dietary habits related to various head and neck cancers.

"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 Dr. Yuan-Chin Amy Lee from the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah School of Medicine, according to a report by Science Alert.

The research found that compared with non-coffee drinkers, people who drank more than four cups of caffeinated coffee daily had a 17 percent lower chance of getting head and neck cancer overall. Specifically, heavy coffee drinkers had a 30% lower risk of oral cavity cancer compared to non-coffee drinkers, with some studies indicating that moderate or high levels of coffee consumption daily have a protective effect.

Additionally, the study revealed that consuming more than four cups of caffeinated coffee daily reduced the likelihood of developing throat cancer by 22%. For hypopharyngeal cancer, a type of cancer at the lower part of the throat, drinking three to four cups of caffeinated coffee was associated with a 41% lower risk.

Tea consumption also appeared to offer protective benefits. Drinking up to one cup of tea daily was linked to a 9% lower risk of head and neck cancers. Tea drinkers saw a 29% lower risk of hypopharyngeal cancer. However, the study noted that consuming more than one cup of tea daily was associated with a 38% increase in the risk of developing laryngeal cancer, possibly linked to gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The researchers adjusted their analyses for age, sex, race, education, cigarette pack-years, and alcohol drinking frequency, allowing for a more precise approach to the impact of coffee and tea consumption on cancer risk. They highlighted the contribution of decaffeinated coffee as well, with consumption associated with a 25% to 34% decrease in the risk of oral cavity cancer, depending on the amount consumed.

"We cannot say from this study that drinking these beverages will lower risk of these cancers," said Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition at King's College London, according to a report by The Sun. He pointed out that observational studies cannot completely eliminate confounding factors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, which are major contributors to the increasing incidence of head and neck cancer.

"It is very difficult and usually impossible to fully disentangle why you see the associations that you do," said Ben O'Leary, a scientist at the International Centre for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer in London, according to Nature.

Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer globally, with nearly 900,000 cases diagnosed each year, and rates are rising, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. These cancers can develop in more than 30 areas across the head and neck, including the oral cavity, lips, nose, paranasal sinuses, throat, larynx, voice box, sinuses, and salivary glands.

Symptoms of head and neck cancer depend on the location of the tumor and whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes. Initial symptoms are often mild and can mimic less serious conditions. The increase in head and neck cancer rates prompted scientists to study the impact of dietary factors, such as coffee and tea consumption, on the prevention of this type of cancer. Stay updated with the latest news! Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter Subscribe Now

"These findings support the need for more data and further studies around the impact that coffee and tea can have on reducing cancer risk," said Dr. Lee, emphasizing the complexity of coffee and tea consumption habits, according to El Tiempo.

The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.

MasterBlaster691 on January 8th, 2025 at 21:39 UTC »

Did big coffee post this? Did anyone who upvoted this actually jump to the second website?

"We cannot say from this study that drinking these beverages will lower risk of these cancers,"

said Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition at King's College London, according to a report by The Sun. He pointed out that observational studies cannot completely eliminate confounding factors such as tobacco and alcohol consumption, which are major contributors to the increasing incidence of head and neck cancer."

FreudsParents on January 8th, 2025 at 21:26 UTC »

Here's the full study: https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.35620

Unfortunately when they say "head" cancer they don't mean brain cancer.

I think I'm too stupid to understand the findings. From what I can see the people they used that had cancer also smoked significantly more than the people that don't have cancer, and drank significantly more. Since we know those are both correlated to mouth and throat cancer, it seems to me like it's the more likely cause. And that the fact that they don't drink as much coffee is more of a coincidence.

Ahaucan on January 8th, 2025 at 20:21 UTC »

TIL that neck cancer is a thing.