Coffee and tea intake and risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer
Introduction
The relation between the intake of beverages containing methylxanthines, particularly coffee, and risk of cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx and esophagus has not been extensively studied. Evidence published before 1990 was reviewed in a Monograph of the International Agency for Research on Cancer.1 It included six studies which found little evidence of association with coffee consumption, except for a possible association with very high temperature.1 Since then, at least one cohort2 and some case-control studies3, 4, 5, 6, 7 found no appreciable relation between coffee intake and cancers of the upper digestive tract. In another study on esophageal cancer, coffee intake was not associated with risk, while other hot beverages, including coffee with milk, increased the risk.8 Two case-control studies from China9, 10 showed a protection of tea intake on esophageal cancer risk, while a British study on esophageal cancer in women found an increased risk in relation to tea intake and no association with coffee.11
To further evaluate the potential role of coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea intake in the aetiology of upper digestive tract cancers we have analysed a series of case-control studies conducted in Italy and Switzerland.12, 13, 14, 15
Section snippets
Subjects and methods
Data were obtained from two hospital-based case-control studies with the same design, questionnaire and inclusion criteria.12, 13, 14, 15 Information was collected between 1991 and 1997 in northern Italy (greater Milan, the provinces of Pordenone and Padua), central Italy (the province of Latina), and in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.
Cases were patients younger than 80 years with incident, histologically confirmed cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx (749 cases, median age 57 years), or esophagus
Results
The distribution of cases and controls according to age, sex and major risk factors for cancers of the upper digestive tract is reported in Table 1. Cases of oral and pharyngeal and esophageal cancers were less educated, more frequently heavy smokers and heavy alcohol drinkers and consumed less frequently vegetables and fruit.
Table 2 shows the distribution and the corresponding OR of cancers of the upper digestive tract according to intake of coffee, decaffeinated coffee and tea. Compared to
Discussion
These results support the presence of an inverse association between coffee intake and risk of cancer of oral cavity, pharynx and esophagus. No material modification of risk was found in relation to decaffeinated coffee and tea intake, although consumption of these beverages was limited in these populations, and consequently this study had inadequate power to detect any possible relation.
The two studies combined in the present analysis are hospital-based, but cases were identified in the major
Acknowledgements
Supported by the Commission of the European Communities (Contract no. QLKI-CT-2000-00069), the Italian Association for Research on Cancer, and the Italian and Swiss Leagues against Cancer. The Authors thank Mrs. M.P. Bonifacino for editorial assistance.
References (22)
- et al.
Glutathione-S-transferases M1 (GSTM1) and GSTT1 genotype, smoking, consumption of alcohol and tea and risk of esophageal and stomach cancersa case-control study of a high-incidence area in Jiangsu Province, China
Cancer Lett.
(2002) - et al.
Reproducibility of an Italian food frequency questionnaire for cancer studiesresults for specific food items
Eur J Cancer
(1993) - et al.
Validation of a food-frequency questionnaire to assess dietary intakes in cancer studies in Italy
Results for specific nutrients. Ann Epidemiol
(1996) tea, mate, methylxanthines and methylglyoxal
IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum
(1991)- et al.
Coffee and cancera prospective study of 43,000 Norwegian men and women
Cancer Causes Control
(1994) - et al.
Nutrition and cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx in North-East Italy
Int J Cancer
(1991) - et al.
Mate, coffee, and tea consumption and risk of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract in southern Brazil
Epidemiology
(1994) - et al.
Case-control study of squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity in Denmark
Cancer Causes Control
(1995) - et al.
Reflux-inducing dietary factors and risk of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and gastric cardia
Nutr Cancer
(2000) - et al.
The role of diet and specific micronutrients in the etiology of oral carcinoma
Cancer
(2002)