Coffee lowers liver cancer risk

Drinking coffee helps in reducing the likelihood of developing liver cancer. Researchers from the Istituto Tumori "Fondazione Pascale" in Naples found that hepatocellular carcinoma, a type of liver cancer that frequently stems from cirrhosis of the liver or hepatitis infection and is highly fatal, is becoming more common in the developing world. At the same time, coffee drinking has been linked to a lower risk of liver cirrhosis and chronic liver disease. Given that coffee consumption is high in Italy, the researchers sought to investigate the coffee-liver cancer relationship among 185 liver cancer patients and 412 controls. It was found that people who drank at least 28 cups of coffee a week were at 60 percent lower risk of liver cancer than those who drank less than 14 cups weekly. They also found that people who didn't drink coffee at all were at double the risk of the cancer compared to those who drank less than 14 cups a week. The relationship was seen across all levels of alcohol consumption and among hepatitis patients. However, neither tea nor decaffeinated coffee was associated with a significantly lower liver cancer risk. Coffee contains a number of antioxidants, as well as other substances that might shield the liver from damage due to alcohol.