Take another sip of that cup of Joe. A new study shows coffee may protect against head and neck cancer.

Researchers found participants who drank about four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 39-percent decreased risk of oral cavity and pharynx cancers compared to non-coffee drinkers.

"Since coffee is so widely used, and there is a relatively high incidence and low survival rate of these forms of cancers, our results have important public health implications that need to be further addressed," lead researcher Mia Hashibe, Ph.D., assistant professor in the department of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, was quoted as saying.

Investigators said the data on decaffeinated coffee was too sparse for detailed analysis. They also did not find any association between tea intake and head and neck cancer risk.

"What makes our results so unique is that we had a very large sample size, and since we combined data across many studies, we had more statistical power to detect associations between cancer and coffee," Hashibe said.

Previous studies have shown coffee is associated with a decreased risk of advanced prostate cancer and brain tumors.


SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, June 2010