When you include the American Institute for Cancer Research in your estate plans, you make a major difference in the fight against cancer.

Corporate Champions who partner with the American Institute for Cancer Research stand at the forefront of the fight against cancer

40 Years of Progress: Transforming Cancer. Saving Lives.

The AICR Lifestyle & Cancer Symposium addresses the most current and consequential issues regarding diet, obesity, physical activity and cancer.

The Annual AICR Research Conference is the most authoritative source for information on diet, obesity, physical activity and cancer.

Cancer Update Program – unifying research on nutrition, physical activity and cancer.

ResourcesNav New165

Whether you are a healthcare provider, a researcher, or just someone who wants to learn more about cancer prevention, we’re here to help.

Read real-life accounts of how AICR is changing lives through cancer prevention and survivorship.

We bring a detailed policy framework to our advocacy efforts, and provide lawmakers with the scientific evidence they need to achieve our objectives.

AICR champions research that increases understanding of the relationship between nutrition, lifestyle, and cancer.

Are you ready to make a difference? Join our team and help us advance research, improve cancer education and provide lifesaving resources.

AICR’s resources can help you navigate questions about nutrition and lifestyle, and empower you to advocate for your health.

May 18, 2011 | 2 minute read

AICR-Supported Study: Coffee Cuts Risk of Lethal Prostate Cancer

Whether men drink caffeinated or decaf coffee, a large new AICR-supported study suggests that men who consistently drink a lot of it may reduce their risk of the most lethal form of prostate cancer.

The study was published in the online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Previous studies on coffee and prostate cancer have found neither increased nor decreased risk. The new JNCI study is unique in that it focused on the advanced form of the disease and is the largest to date.

This study tracked almost 48,000 U.S. men who reported how much coffee they drank every four years from 1986 to 2008. During the study period, 5,035 cases of prostate cancer were reported, including 642 fatal cases.

For all forms of prostate cancer, the study found that men who consumed six or more cups of coffee daily had nearly a 20 percent lower risk than non-drinkers. When focusing only on the deadly form of prostate cancer, the protective association was even stronger. Men who drank the most coffee had a 60 percent lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer compared to non-coffee drinkers.

Even drinking one to three cups of coffee per day was associated with a 30 percent lower risk of lethal prostate cancer.

The study was led by Harvard School of Public Health researchers.

Because the protective link held for both decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee, the researchers hypothesize that the effect may be due to coffee’s many healthful compounds that act as antioxidants, reduce inflammation, and regulate insulin.

This is one of many recent studies on the coffee-cancer risk connection making news – here was one last week on breast cancer – and given this study’s results, more research is sure to follow.

But as the authors point out, more research is needed before making any firm conclusion on coffee and prostate cancer risk.

In looking at all the evidence relating to coffee and cancer risk, AICR’s 2007 report judged coffee unlikely to have any effect on the risk of pancreatic or kidney cancer – the two cancers for which there was enough evidence to make a conclusion.

3 comments on “AICR-Supported Study: Coffee Cuts Risk of Lethal Prostate Cancer

  1. Bill Keefe on

    Great news! And quite timely as I’ve upped my daily dosage recently.
    On a more serious note, does non-lethal prostate cancer require treatment or is it similar to a benign growth?

    Reply
    • Mya on

      The authors define lethal prostate cancers as cancers that caused death or spread (metastasized) to the bone before the end of the study. So any form of non-lethal prostate cancer in the study included advanced prostate cancer as well as nonadvanced stages of prostate cancer. (Either form might require treatment but treatment wasn’t the focus of this study.)

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More From the Blog

Close