Coffee, tea and decaffeinated coffee in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma in a European population: Multicentre, prospective cohort study

Abstract

Inverse associations of coffee and/or tea in relation to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk have been consistently identified in studies conducted mostly in Asia where consumption patterns of such beverages differ from Europe. In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition (EPIC), we identified 201 HCC cases among 486,799 men/women, after a median follow‐up of 11 years. We calculated adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for HCC incidence in relation to quintiles/categories of coffee/tea intakes. We found that increased coffee and tea intakes were consistently associated with lower HCC risk. The inverse associations were substantial, monotonic and statistically significant. Coffee consumers in the highest compared to the lowest quintile had lower HCC risk by 72% [HR: 0.28; 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.16–0.50, p‐trend < 0.001]. The corresponding association of tea with HCC risk was 0.41 (95% CI: 0.22–0.78, p‐trend = 0.003). There was no compelling evidence of heterogeneity of these associations across strata of important HCC risk factors, including hepatitis B or hepatitis C status (available in a nested case–control study). The inverse, monotonic associations of coffee intake with HCC were apparent for caffeinated (p‐trend = 0.009), but not decaffeinated (p‐trend = 0.45) coffee for which, however, data were available for a fraction of subjects. Results from this multicentre, European cohort study strengthen the existing evidence regarding the inverse association between coffee/tea and HCC risk. Given the apparent lack of heterogeneity of these associations by HCC risk factors and that coffee/tea are universal exposures, our results could have important implications for high HCC risk subjects.

The role of diet in cancer: the epidemiologic link

“…Further three individually published meta-analyses found even stronger protective effect, 16,17,44 while in the EPIC cohort a 72% risk reduction for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for highest vs lowest quintile of regular coffee drinkers was observed (HR=0.28; 95%CI 0.16-0.50). 45 A divergent effect in subgroup analyses was observed: significantly inverse association was observed only for caffeinated coffee. Considering combined cancer sites a meta-analysis indicated that intake of regular coffee may significantly reduce the risk of total cancers (RR=0.97; 95%CI 0.96-0.98, per one cup/day).…”

Lipid Metabolism in Liver Cancer

“…This goal can be achieved by regular physical exercises, medical intervention (e.g., administration of Statins or Metformin), and other preventive countermeasures. It has been reported that the consumption of coffee or tea could reduce HCC risks, according to large epidemiological studies [96]. Mechanically, the main components of coffee (caffeine) and tea (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) were found to promote autophagy and fatty acid oxidation [97,98].…”

Coffee, Traditional Chinese Medicine and cannabinoids as potential tools for prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…The first one, was a multicentre study by Bamia et al [30] including 201 HCC cases. Authors demonstrated that coffee intake was associated with a decrease of 72% in HCC risk.…”