Beware, hot coffee almost triples your risk of throat cancer - Study

A study from the University of Cambridge has discovered that drinking hot coffee or tea almost triples your risk of throat cancer.

Approximately 10,000 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with esophageal cancer (throat cancer) but apparently, you can reduce your risk by not having hot drinks, The Telegraph reports.

A large study was undertaken, with data collected from more than half a million people in the UK from the UK Biobank in order to determine who drank more coffee (in comparison to the others) and then measure their risk of cancer.

Researchers found that the consumption of coffee did not increase the risk of any cancers except for esophageal. These findings have been published in the journal Clinical Nutrition, The Telegraph said.

Study author Dr Stephen Burgess is reported to have told The Telegraph, “We know the genetic score that we're looking at increases predisposition to drinking coffee but it also increases propensity to drinking more tea as well.”

According to the study findings, those who were the most likely to drink coffee (and tea) were found to be at 2.8 times the risk of esophageal cancer than non-drinkers.

However, participants were also reportedly asked how they like their coffee, - “warm”, “hot” or “very hot.”

It was discovered that that those who prefer to have their drinks “warm” were (2.7 times) more at risk than those who don’t drink coffee and tea.

While those who drink their brew “hot” had a 5.5-fold increase in esophageal cancer risk.

For the individuals who like to have their coffee or tea “very hot” a 4.1 times greater risk was observed.

However, as the data with regard to how much coffee was consumed by each person was not collected, researchers are unable to say if the quantity of hot drinks is linked to higher risk of esophageal cancer.

Dr Burgess is reported to have said, “There was evidence for a causal effect of coffee increasing esophageal cancer, even in people who have self-reported preference for warm drinks.”

So, while there is no increased risk of other cancers from coffee, researchers are of the opinion that the most likely explanation is that the heat from the hot drinks damages the throat, thereby increasing the risk of the formation of dangerous cells.

Speaking about the findings of the study, Dr Burgess is quoted as saying, “It seems to be that thermal injury is the most plausible hypothesis, and that would explain why we're seeing evidence of effect even in coffee non-drinkers who we assume would be tea drinkers.”

He adds, “It would be unreasonable to say that this is telling people “Instead of coffee, you should drink tea instead and you'll be perfectly okay.

“I think that's the opposite to what we're actually saying. It appears to be thermal injury rather than anything specific about coffee or caffeine.

“Avoiding drinking coffee at too high a temperature is really the conclusion. If you are feeling as if there's this damage to your throat, then that's something which is worth being aware of and potentially dialling back on.”

In conclusion, since the study reportedly found no link to the most common forms of cancer, Dr Burgess adds that coffee drinkers should not be overly worried.

“I think overall it's good news for coffee drinkers that actually coffee was not associated with most forms of cancer and certainly the most common forms of cancer,” he told The Telegraph.

In fact, “our findings strengthen the evidence that coffee consumption has a neutral effect on risk of common cancers,” said Dr Susanna Larsson, an epidemiologist based at the Karolinska Institute who was involved in the study.