Around 54 percent of all adults in the United States pour themselves a cup of coffee daily, while 25 percent more have an occasional cup. Although coffee is not considered a particularly healthy drink, regular coffee drinkers may have lower rates of several types of cancers, including prostate cancer. The most common cancer in men outside of skin cancer, prostate cancer affects around one in six men during his lifetime, the American Cancer Society reported in 2010.
Coffee Ingredients
The ingredients that may help prevent prostate cancer, particularly the most aggressive form of the disease, are unknown. Caffeine is not considered the determining factor because decaffeinated coffee drinkers have the same reduced risks. Instead, antioxidants and other substances in coffee may be responsible.
Positive Studies
Researchers from Harvard University presented a paper at the 2009 American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference showing that men who drank the most coffee had a 60 percent lower rate of aggressive prostate cancers. The report used data from 50,000 men in the Health Professionals' Follow-Up Study, conducted from 1986 to 2006. A study published in the September 2010 issue of "BJUI" by South Korean researchers found that coffee did not increase the risk of developing prostate cancer as previously thought. A Chinese review of 59 studies published in the March 2011 issue of "BMC Cancer" found that drinking one cup of coffee per day decreased cancer risk by 3 percent, and prostate cancer was one of the cancers listed for decreased risk.
Caveats
The Korean researchers reported that out of eight case-control studies, seven showed a connection between coffee and development of prostate cancer, while the four cohort studies did not show a connection. Because cohort studies give more accurate results than case-control studies, researchers concluded that the evidence did not support a connection between coffee intake and prostate cancer but also stated more studies are needed. It's also possible that coffee has both positive and negative effects, lead author Dr. Chang-Hae Park stated. While the Harvard researchers showed a decrease in the rate of the most aggressive form of prostate cancer in coffee drinkers, the same may not apply to other prostate cancers.
Considerations
Men who drink coffee and are concerned about prostate cancer can probably breathe a little easier over their morning cup of java. While more studies on the effects of coffee on cancer are needed, the evidence at this point tips toward a positive or benign effect of coffee on the risk of developing prostate cancer.
References
- ScienceDaily.com; Coffee Consumption Associated With Reduced Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer; December 2009
- MedKB; No Link Seen Between Coffee, Prostate Cancer Risk; July 2010
- "BJUI;" Coffee Consumption and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Epidemiological Studies; Chang-Hae Park et al.; September 2010
- American Cancer Society: What are the Key Statistics About Prostate Cancer?
- "BMC Cancer;" Coffee Consumption and Risk of Cancers: A Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies; Xiaofeng Yu; March 2011
- coffeeresearch.org: Coffee Consumption Statistics in the United States
