From reducing the risk of death, to reducing the risk of certain cancers and diabetes, to reducing the risk of depression and Parkinson’s disease. Coffee seems to have become the “darling” of medicine. Today we’ll take a look at the studies that researchers have done on coffee, and discuss a few of the “sins” of coffee in the cancer community. I. Coffee again! Reduce the risk of colorectal cancer A recent study reported by Stephanie L. Schmit and others at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev), made everyone’s love for coffee deeper – coffee can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 26%. This was a population-based study of the molecular epidemiology of colorectal cancer in northern Israel. Researchers developed a validated, semi-quantitative coffee intake frequency questionnaire for 5145 colorectal cancer patients and 4097 healthy individuals without a history of colorectal cancer. Data from the study showed that moderate (one to two servings a day) coffee consumption reduced the risk of colorectal cancer by 26%, after correcting for known risk factors. The risk of colorectal cancer decreases with increasing coffee consumption, and this trend is evident in both colon and rectal cancers. This inverse relationship was found in both decaffeinated and regular coffee. Surprise! Caffeine doesn’t work alone. The researchers said, “Coffee contains a variety of components that promote colorectal health; caffeine and polyphenols have antioxidant effects, black extracts promote colon motility, and diterpenoids resist oxidative stress damage.” Second, reduce cancer recurrence in colon cancer patients Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have published a study in theJournalofClinicalOncology that says regular coffee consumption significantly reduces tumor recurrence and improves survival in patients with stage 3 colon cancer. The study followed the dietary patterns of 953 colorectal cancer patients treated with chemotherapy over a six-month period, and they found that patients who drank four or more cups of coffee per day (about 460 mg of caffeine) were 42 percent less likely to have a cancer recurrence than those who did not drink coffee. During follow-up, those who regularly drank four or more cups of coffee had a 33% lower chance of dying from cancer or any other cause of death than those who did not drink coffee. And further analysis showed that the lower cancer risk was due to the amount of caffeine absorbed by the patients, not the amount of other components of coffee. Third, reduce the risk of liver cancer Researchers from the Ministry of Clinical Sciences and Public Health of the University of Milan, Italy, and the Mario Negri Institute of Pharmacology in Milan have reported in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology that the intake of any type of coffee may reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by up to 50% (the magnitude of the reduction depends on the intake). The report examined 16 studies conducted between 1996 and 2012, totaling 3,153 cases. The researchers said the positive effect of coffee in preventing liver cancer could be attributed to coffee’s well-known effectiveness in preventing diabetes, which is a contributing factor to liver cancer; there is another possibility that coffee prevents cirrhosis and has a beneficial effect on the enzymes in the liver. However, it is also possible that the statistics were affected by the general avoidance of coffee in patients who already had hepatocellular carcinoma, so it cannot be determined whether caffeine plays an additional role in the prevention of liver cancer. IV. Reducing the risk of melanoma A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on January 20, 2015, suggests that drinking more than four cups of coffee a day can reduce the risk of skin cancer by 20% over a decade. The study looked comprehensively at 447,000 subjects, involving 124 food questionnaires, aged 50 to 71, none of whom had cancer at the start of the study. Over the course of the study, which spanned more than a decade, more than 2,900 subjects developed malignant melanoma and more than 1,900 developed another type of skin cancer: melanoma in situ. Excluding factors such as age, diet and family history, and considering only the relationship between caffeinated coffee and melanoma, more than four cups of coffee per day reduced the risk of skin cancer by 20 percent over ten years. Theoretically, the various components of coffee have been shown to influence a considerable number of molecular pathways that can reduce the risk of UV-related skin cancer. However, such a large sample study conducted with human subjects is still very convincing. V. It also inhibits breast cancer growth Researchers at Skane University Hospital at Lund University in the UK published findings in the journal Clinical Cancer Research that for women diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with tamoxifen, drinking coffee can inhibit tumor growth and reduce the risk of recurrence. The study of 1,090 Swedish patients diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer evaluated the relationship between two substances commonly produced in Swedish coffee: caffeine and caffeic acid, and tumor characteristics and disease-free survival. The results of the study showed that among at least 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who drank at least two cups of coffee per day had half the risk of breast cancer recurrence as those who drank less than two cups or no coffee, and had smaller tumor volumes and lower rates of hormone-dependent tumors. Researchers believe that caffeine and caffeic acid can lead to impaired cell cycle progression and enhanced cell death, enhancing the effects of tamoxifen treatment. Six, reduce the risk of head and neck cancer The Japanese Aichi Cancer Center survey for head and neck cancer found that people who drank more than 3 cups of coffee a day had about 40% lower risk of head and neck cancer than those who drank less than one cup. 1.Walk up! I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. From reducing the risk of death, to reducing the risk of certain cancers and diabetes, to reducing the risk of depression and Parkinson’s disease. Coffee seems to have become the “darling” of medicine. But there never seems to be a definitive answer to the question of coffee, even though most studies show that for most people, the benefits of coffee outweigh the disadvantages. But no researcher is willing to give the implication that “please drink as much coffee as you like”. The most conservative statement is: If you are a coffee drinker and are being treated for some cancers, don’t stop drinking. Healthy people who do not have the habit of drinking coffee may also want to start to develop the habit of drinking coffee now. 2.How much coffee should I drink every day? Harvard School of Public Health did a large study, suggesting that we never smoked in subjects who consumed ≤ 1 cup of coffee per day, 1-3 cups, 3-5 cups and >5 cups of coffee subjects, the risk of all-cause mortality decreased by 6%, 8%, 15% and 12%, respectively. The mortality decreases were mainly associated with decreases in cardiovascular mortality, neurological disease mortality, and suicide mortality. The study was published in Circulation on November 16, 2015. Combined with some of the previous studies on cancer risk reduction, perhaps 3 to 5 cups of coffee a day is a good choice.