Study Adds to Mounting Evidence That Coffee Prevents Cancer

Evidence seems to be mounting that drinking coffee can help prevent cancer, with a new study suggesting that the popular morning brew could protect against tumors of the head and neck.

Regular coffee drinkers -- those who downed four or more cups a day -- were 39 percent less likely to develop cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx combined, the researchers found. 

Decaffeinated coffee didn't seem to pose any added risk, though there wasn't enough data for a thorough analysis. The authors found no link between tea and cancers of the head and neck.

"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," lead researcher Mia Hashibe, an assistant professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, said in a statement.

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

Hashibe said that though the findings on heavy coffee drinkers are compelling, there is less evidence that moderate to light coffee consumption lowers the risk of head and neck cancers. People shouldn't take the study to mean that they need to up their daily coffee intake to four or more cups, she said.

"We didn't see a clear association for the moderate drinkers," she told AOL Health. "But coffee is a really complex set of chemicals. I wouldn't recommend that everybody drink that much coffee."

The authors arrived at their conclusions by examining nine different studies done by the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium, and said the wide range of participants lends credence to their findings.

"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," said Hashibe, who teaches in the university's department of family and preventive medicine.

In December, researchers from Harvard University presented findings at an AACR conference showing that drinking coffee every day lowered the risk of deadly and advanced prostate cancers. Men who consumed the most coffee had a 60 percent lower risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer than those who didn't drink coffee at all.

Another study published in January in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention indicated that coffee was also associated with a decreased chance of getting a brain tumor. The link was detected in those who drank five or more cups of coffee or tea a day, according to researchers from the Imperial College in London.

Hashibe said she and her colleagues adjusted for the two most significant risk factors for head and neck cancer, smoking and drinking, as well as for age, sex, race, weight, education and vegetable and fruit intake.

The latest research didn't pinpoint what it is about coffee that seems to lower the risk of developing head and neck tumors, and Hashibe said more studies are needed.

"Coffee includes antioxidants, and I think those might play a role," she told AOL Health. "But our [report] doesn't study that specifically."

More on Coffee's Health Benefits:
Coffee May Reduce the Risk of Diabetes
That Cuppa Joe Might Have Some Health Benefits