Coffee Drinking and Cancer Risk

Many studies have previously suggested that drinking coffee improves life expectancy. However, the association between coffee drinking and specific forms of cancer have been less clear.

Now, an umbrella review of 28 meta-analyses has reported highly suggestive evidence that coffee drinking protects against liver and endometrial (uterine) cancer. While coffee also appeared protective against other forms of cancer, hints of bias in the data mean more solid evidence is needed.

Even though coffee has been associated with a lower risk of several common cancers in the literature, the associations for only liver cancer and endometrial cancer were supported by highly suggestive evidence. Findings for cancer at other sites were less consistent, presenting hints of uncertainty and/or bias, which need more confirmative studies in the future.

Zhao, L., Li, Z., Feng, G., Ji, X., Tan, Y., & Li, H. et al. (2020). Coffee drinking and cancer risk: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of observational studies. BMC Cancer, 20(1). doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-6561-9

The findings of this review back up those of the the International Agency for Research on Cancer, who recently reported coffee’s reverse relationship with liver and endometrial cancer.