Caffeine 'cuts cancer risk'
Caffeinated coffee could cut ovarian cancer risk, study suggests
Tuesday, 22, Jan 2008 10:18
Women who drink caffeinated coffee may have a lower risk of developing ovarian cancer, a new study suggests.
The reduced risk was found to be strongest in women who had never used oral contraceptives or post-menopausal hormones.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health base their findings on an analysis of associations between smoking and ovarian cancer risk in 110,454 women and between alcohol or caffeine and ovarian cancer risk among 80,253 women.
The participants' health was followed from 1976 to 2004 as part of ongoing questionnaires from the Brigham and Women's hospital-based Nurses' Health Study.
No association was found between current or past smoking and ovarian cancer risk, although the researchers did find that smoking status, duration, and pack-years were significantly associated with risk of mucinous tumors, a rare form of ovarian cancer.
Alcohol consumption did not have an impact on ovarian cancer risk, the researchers said in the journal Cancer.
Ovarian cancer risk was however reduced by caffeine consumption.
"The possibility that caffeine may reduce ovarian cancer risk, particularly for women who have not previously used exogenous hormones, is intriguing and warrants further study, including an evaluation of possible biological mechanisms," the researchers conclude.
Commenting on the findings, Josephine Querido, senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "The jury is still out as to whether or not caffeine affects the risk of ovarian cancer because evidence from previous studies looking at this link has been inconsistent.
"Smoking and alcohol cause over a dozen other types of cancer. Smoking, in particular, is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world."