Coffee found to prevent head and neck cancer

New research finds coffee may help prevent head and neck cancer, which substantiates some research and clarifies other findings.

“Since coffee is so widely used and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancers, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed,” said lead researcher Mia Hashibe, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and a Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator.

Results of the study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The study used participants who were regular coffee drinkers, an estimated four cups daily compared with non-drinkers.  Findings showed those who drink coffee had a 39 percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers combined.

The results for decaffeinated coffee were too sparse for analysis but didn't show any protection potential..

“What makes our results so unique is that we had a very large sample size, and since we combined data across many studies, we had more statistical power to detect associations between cancer and coffee,” Hashibe said.

Previous studies have demonstrated that coffee reduces the risk of prostate cancer as well as brain tumors.

Johanna W. Lampe, Ph.D., R.D., Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention editorial board member, said this current analysis by Hashibe and colleagues provides strong, additional evidence for an association between caffeinated coffee drinking and cancer risk.

“The fact that this was seen for oral and pharyngeal cancers, but not laryngeal cancers, provides some evidence as to a possible specificity of effect,” said Lampe, who is a full member and associate division director in the division of public health sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle., Washington.

“These findings provide further impetus to pursue research to understand the role of coffee in head and neck cancer prevention,” she added.