Drinking Coffee Cuts Liver Cancer Risk by 40%
Tue, 10/22/2013

Some data from the study indicate that three cups of coffee per day
reduce liver cancer risk by more than 50 percent.
Some data from the study indicate that three cups of coffee per day
reduce liver cancer risk by more than 50 percent.
Coffee consumption reduces risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the
most common type of liver cancer, by about 40 percent, according to an
up-to-date meta-analysis published in Clinical Gastroenterology and
Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American
Gastroenterological Association. Further, some data indicate that three
cups of coffee per day reduce liver cancer risk by more than 50 percent.

“Our research confirms past claims that coffee is good for your health,
and particularly the liver,” said Carlo La Vecchia, study author from
the department of epidemiology, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche
“Mario Negri,” and department of clinical sciences and community health,
Università degli Studi di Milan, Italy. “The favorable effect of coffee
on liver cancer might be mediated by coffee’s proven prevention of
diabetes, a known risk factor for the disease, or for its beneficial
effects on cirrhosis and liver enzymes.”

Researchers performed a meta-analysis of articles published from 1996
through September 2012, ultimately studying 16 high-quality studies and
a total of 3,153 cases. This research fills an important gap as the last
meta-analysis was published in 2007, and since then there has been data
published on more than 900 cases of HCC.

Despite the consistency of results across studies, time periods and
populations, it is difficult to establish whether the association
between coffee drinking and HCC is causal, or if this relationship may
be partially attributable to the fact that patients with liver and
digestive diseases often voluntarily reduce their coffee intake.

“It remains unclear whether coffee drinking has an additional role in
liver cancer prevention,” added Dr. La Vecchia. “But, in any case, such
a role would be limited as compared to what is achievable through the
current measures.”

Primary liver cancers are largely avoidable through hepatitis B virus
vaccination, control of hepatitis C virus transmission and reduction of
alcohol drinking. These three measures can, in principle, avoid more
than 90 percent of primary liver cancer worldwide.

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world, and the third
most common cause of cancer death. HCC is the main type of liver cancer,
accounting for more than 90 percent of cases worldwide. Chronic
infections with hepatitis B and C viruses are the main causes of liver
cancer; other relevant risk factors include alcohol, tobacco, obesity
and diabetes.

Source: American Gastroenterological Association