COULD COFFEE INTAKE HELP MEN WITH PROSTATE CANCER?
The study involved 1,001 prostate cancer survivors who ranged in age from 35 -74 when they were diagnosed between 2002 and 2005. All had filled out surveys about their food and beverage habits two years before their diagnosis.
The scientists then followed up with the men at least five years after diagnosis. A total of 630 of the men answered questions about their coffee intake at that time; 61% drank at least one cup per day, while 12% drank four or more cups a day.
The researchers found that the men who drank four or more cups of coffee a day had a 59% lower risk of progression or recurrence of cancer compared to those who drank only one or fewer cups per week. However, because there were relatively few fatalities, it was difficult to say whether or not coffee drinking affected the risk of actually dying from the disease, the study authors said.
Usage of detailed information on follow-up prostate-specific antigen [PSA] levels, use of secondary treatment for prostate cancer, and data from scans and biopsies to assess occurrence of metastases and cause-specific mortality during follow up were also noted.
They’re are good reasons to think coffee could have cancer-fighting properties. Caffeine and other chemicals in coffee have been recorded to have properties that inhibit runaway cancer cell growth. Previous studies have found similar benefits for avid coffee drinkers in terms of reducing the risks for basal-cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer), gliomas (brain/nervous system cancers), and ovarian cancer.
It’s too early to recommend coffee as a cancer fighter and more trials are needed to further establish facts.
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