Drinking coffee may lower liver cancer risk.

A new study on the effect that coffee drinking has on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) confirmed that an inverse association exists between the two. The results of the study appeared in the August 2007 issue of Hepatology.

The meta-analysis of 10 published studies conducted in southern Europe and Japan showed a 41% reduction of HCC risk among coffee drinkers compared to those who never drank coffee. According to the researchers, a risk reduction was evident in all of the studies, regardless of whether they were from Europe, which has a high consumption of coffee, or Japan, where less coffee is consumed.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri in Milan, Italy, included 2,260 cases of HCC. The researchers pointed out that animal and laboratory studies have indicated that certain compounds found in coffee may act as blocking agents by reacting with enzymes involved in carcinogenic detoxification. Other components, including caffeine, have been shown to have favorable effects on liver enzymes. Coffee also has been related to a reduced risk of liver disease and cirrhosis, which can lead to liver cancer.

Although a cause-and-effect relationship between coffee and liver cancer cannot be determined based on the data, the current analysis provides evidence of a protective effect of coffee drinking on the liver.

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Bravi, F., Bosetti, C., Tavani, A., Bagnardi, V., Gallus, S., Negri, E., et al. (2007). Coffee drinking and hepatocellular carcinoma risk. Hepatology, 46(2), 430-435.

Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON[R], Contributing Editor

Contributing Editor Deborah McBride, RN, MSN, CPON[R], is a nurse at the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center and a faculty member at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland, CA.