Researchers have suggested, drinking more daily cups of coffee is linked to a reduced risk of prostate cancer.
A study published in the British Medical Journal – BMJ Open described how researchers examined data from 16 different studies from 1989 to 2019. They gathered the information together to assess the overall reduction of risk from coffee consumption.
The scientists from China Medical University analysed data from almost 1.1 million men across North America, Europe and Japan (which included information on almost 58,000 men who had prostate cancer) and concluded that for each extra daily cup of coffee the risk of prostate cancer reduced by nearly 1%.
IMAGE: BMJ Open
Compared with the lowest category of coffee consumption, those who had the highest consumption appeared to have a reduction in prostate cancer risk of 9%.
Further analysis found that there was a 7% lower risk of localised prostate cancer, a 12% lower risk of advanced prostate cancer and a 16% lower risk of death from prostate cancer among those who drank the most coffee.
However, they warn that there are limitations to these findings, such as the reliance on participant’s recall of coffee consumption in most of the studies assessed.
The authors point out that coffee improves glucose metabolism, has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and affects sex hormone levels, all of which may influence the initiation, development and progression of prostate cancer.
The studies assessed adjusted for other influences on prostate cancer risk related to coffee consumption, such as physical activity or healthy diet. However, the authors state that their findings should be interpreted with caution as due the varying methods used across the 16 studies.
Still, they conclude:
This study suggests that increased coffee consumption may be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Further research is still warranted to explore the underlying mechanisms and active compounds in coffee.
If the association is further proved to be a causal effect, men might be encouraged to increase their coffee consumption to potentially decrease the risk of prostate cancer.
There has been numerous studies on the affects of coffee and prostate cancer, but each study has many variants and limitations to their findings for us to fully conclude whether the statements are true or false, but we can only hope for more future studies may help reduce the risk.
Australian researchers recently added to their understanding of how prostate cancer develops resistance which aimed to help develop targeted treatment to overcome therapy resistance.
