Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of death from cancer.HCC is the leading type of liver cancer, accounting for more than 90% of all liver cancer cases worldwide. Chronic infection with the hepatitis B and C viruses is the leading cause of liver cancer, and other associated risk factors include exposure to tobacco, obesity, and diabetes. According to a recent meta-analysis published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, coffee consumption reduces the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, by about 40 percent. Some data further confirm that three cups of coffee per day can reduce the risk of liver cancer by more than 50%. Details: Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2013 May 6. “Our study confirms the previous view that coffee is good for health, more so for the liver,” said the study’s authors, from the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacology. Carlo La Vecchia, M.D., of the Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health at the University of Milan, from the Negri Institute of Pharmacology, said this. “This beneficial effect of coffee on liver cancer may be related to its proven preventive effect on diabetes, or its benefit on cirrhosis or liver enzymes. Diabetes is a risk factor for liver cancer.” The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of articles published between 1996 and September 2012, attacking 16 high-quality trials with 3,153 cases studied. The last meta-analysis was published in 2007, and data on more than 900 HCC cases published since then were filled in by this study with another meta-analysis. Although the findings, time span and population were consistent, it is difficult to confirm whether the association between coffee and HCC is coincidental or partly due to the often spontaneous reduction in coffee intake in patients with liver and digestive diseases. ”It is still not clear whether caffeine plays an additional role in the prevention of liver cancer,” said Dr. La Vecchia. Dr. La Vecchia said. “But in any case, this effect (from coffee use) is limited compared to what can be achieved with the (preventive) measures currently in place.” Primary liver cancer can mostly be avoided through hepatitis B vaccination, control of hepatitis C virus transmission and reduction of alcohol intake. These three measures have theoretically prevented more than 90 percent of primary liver cancers worldwide.