Results from a decades-long study may enable women to drink
coffee or tea without worry that doing so will increase their risk
for breast cancer, study findings suggest.
"In this large cohort of women, with 22 years of follow-up, we
observed no association between coffee (caffeinated or
decaffeinated) and tea consumption and the risk of breast cancer,"
Dr Davaasambuu Ganmaa said.
"Coffee and tea are remarkably safe beverages when used in
moderation," said Ganmaa, of the Harvard School of Public Health in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Ganmaa and colleagues assessed coffee, tea, and caffeine
consumption among 85,987 women who participated in the Nurses'
Health Study.
The women were between 30 and 55 years old at the start of the
study.
Over 22 years of follow up, 5,272 women developed breast
cancer.
After accounting for other factors potentially associated with
breast cancer risk, such as age, smoking status, body mass,
physical activity, alcohol intake, family history, menopausal
status, history of hormone therapy, and number of children, the
researchers found no elevated risk of breast cancer among women who
reported drinking four or more cups of caffeinated or decaffeinated
coffee or tea per day, compared with those who drank less than one
cup daily.
They also found no apparent association between the occurrence of
breast cancer and intakes of other caffeinated soft drinks and
chocolate, which contribute to overall caffeine intake.
When the researchers further assessed breast cancer risk
specifically among postmenopausal women, they found a modestly
reduced risk associated with the highest versus the lowest caffeine
intake.
But, "this relation needs to be examined further," the investigators note.
