title: Coffee, tea, and fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in a large prospective US cohort.
abstract: Epidemiologic studies suggest that coffee intake is associated with reduced risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer. The authors examined associations of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and tea intake with fatal oral/pharyngeal cancer in the Cancer Prevention Study II, a prospective US cohort study begun in 1982 by the American Cancer Society. Among 968,432 men and women who were cancer free at enrollment, 868 deaths due to oral/pharyngeal cancer occurred during 26 years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate multivariable-adjusted relative risk. Intake of >4 cups/day of caffeinated coffee was associated with a 49% lower risk of oral/pharyngeal cancer death relative to no/occasional coffee intake (relative risk = 0.51, 95% confidence interval: 0.40, 0.64) (1 cup/day = 237 ml). A dose-related decline in relative risk was observed with each single cup/day consumed (P(trend) < 0.001). The association was not modified by sex, smoking status, or alcohol use. An inverse association for >2 cups/day of decaffeinated coffee intake was suggested (relative risk = 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.37, 1.01). No association was found for tea drinking. In this large prospective study, caffeinated coffee intake was inversely associated with oral/pharyngeal cancer mortality. Research is needed to elucidate biologic mechanisms whereby coffee might help to protect against these often fatal cancers.
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, 250 Williams Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. janet.hildebrand@cancer.org
authors.forename: Janet S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hildebrand
authors.forename: Alpa V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Marjorie L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: McCullough
authors.forename: Mia M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gaudet
authors.forename: Amy Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Richard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gapstur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002110:Caffeine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003069:Coffee; D004032:Diet; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010610:Pharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013662:Tea; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee; D013662:Tea; D002110:Caffeine