Study Observes That Coffee-drinking Habit Can Potentially Lead to Lower Risk of Liver Cancer

Dec, 2019 - By SMI

Researchers at the Queen's University recently reported people who are avid coffee drinkers are able to effectively reduce the risk of one of the most common cancer types, liver cancer, scientifically known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The findings of the latest study were presented at the NCRI (National Cancer Research Institute) conference organized in Glasgow this month. Earlier this year, the research report was released in British Journal of Cancer.

Coffee is found to be one of the beverages that are most commonly consumed around the world. A number of previous research cases suggest that coffee holds a multitude of health benefits, most probably by virtue of the high levels of antioxidants that it contains. The study conducted in the U.K., which is deemed to be one of the most significant studies of the middle-aged individuals around the world, is said to have involved an insightful analysis of the coffee-drinking habits of as many as 471,779 participants from the U.K. Biobank. As per the overall findings of the research team, it was discovered that the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, which is among the most common liver cancer forms, in coffee drinkers is much lower, in comparison to individuals who did not drink coffee.

Dr. Úna McMenamin, one of the researchers at the Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast, who is also the study’s co-author, elaborated on the latest breakthrough, “This is one of the first studies to investigate the risk of digestive cancers according to different types of coffee and we found that the risk of HCC was just as low in people who drank mostly instant coffee, the type most commonly drunk in the U.K. We need much more research to determine the possible biological reasons behind this association.”