Minimal link between breast cancer and caffeine, study shows

October 14: New research has revealed that there is no direct link with ingesting coffee or caffeine-rich food and breast cancerdefine.

The study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that there is no difference in the overall risk of breast cancerdefine for women who drank more than four cups of coffee each day and women who never drank coffee. However, caution must still be made when taking in caffeine.

A co-author of the study, Dr. Shumin Zhang from the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston warned, "when consuming a high amount of caffeine or four cups or more daily of coffee, there is a possibility of increased risk of breast cancer for women with benign breast disease, or for developing certain subtypes of breast tumors that have less favorable prognoses."

Dr. Zhang together with her associates from the Tokyo Women’s Medical University conducted the study on about 39,000 women aged 45 years and above from 1992 to 1995. All the women who participated in the study were from the healthcare industry with the bulk being registered nurses.

The study team observed that ¼ of the women did not drink coffee, ¼ drank only one cup each day, and 1/3 drank 2 to 3 cups each day while the remaining women drank four cups or more each day.

A follow-up was made on the women after 10 years from the time they were observed. It was seen that 1,190 of the women have developed invasive breast cancer. However, the occurrence of breast cancer cannot be directly associated with caffeine intake.

Dr. Zhang also noted that women with a history of benign breast cancer had a 79% increase in the risk of developing tumors greater than 2 cm in size with caffeine intake. There is also a 68% increase in the risk of developing estrogen/progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer with caffeine intake.

Dr. Alan Astrow, director of the division of hematology/oncology at Maimonides Medical Center, New York stated, "Overall, the results of this study should be reassuring to women who are concerned about their risk of breast cancer and who also like to drink coffee moderately. However, the field of diet and breast cancer risk remains one of active research, and the results of these kinds of investigations are not always easy to interpret. It is possible that future studies will show a different result."

The authors of the study recommend that further studies focused on breast cancer and caffeine consumption be made.