Drinking Coffee Might Reduce Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer

Men who drank 3 or more cups of Italian style coffee per day had a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, according to results from a study published in the International Journal of Cancer.

This population cohort study followed 6989 men aged 50 years or older for an average of 4.24 years. During this time, physicians made 100 new diagnoses of prostate cancer.

Researchers used the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Food Frequency Questionnaire to assess coffee consumption in the cohort. Patients with prostate cancer consumed less daily coffee, approximately 60.1 g per day, than patients without prostate cancer, who consumed approximately 74.0 g per day (P <.05).

Additionally, men who consumed more than 3 cups of coffee per day experienced a 53% reduction in risk of developing prostate cancer than men who consumed up to 2 cups per day (P =.02).

Next, researchers used 2 different prostate cancer cell lines to examine the potential antiproliferative and antimetastatic effects of caffeine. When cell lines were treated with caffeine, they grew less and exhibited less metastatic-like behavior (P <.05), suggesting caffeine might have anticancer properties.

Additional research on a larger population could better elucidate the nature of the correlation between coffee consumption and the development of prostate cancer.

Reference

1. Pounis G, Tabolacci C, Costanzo S, et al. Reduction by coffee consumption of prostate cancer risk: Evidence from the Moli-sani cohort and cellular models [published online April 24, 2017]. Int J Cancer. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30720