Drinking hot coffee may increase risk of oesophageal cancer, study finds

Hot drinks can cause oesophagitis, which is a precursor to cancer

Drinking hot coffee or tea may increase your chances of developing oesophageal cancer, a new study suggests.

The findings, published in the Clinical Nutrition journal, found an association between the temperature at which people drink their coffee and the likelihood of developing the uncommon cancer.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Karolinska Institute in Sweden analysed data on more than 580,000 people from the UK and Finland.

Those who were genetically predisposed to drinking more coffee were 2.8 times more likely to develop oesophageal cancer.

This association was stronger or weaker depending on the temperature at which people take their hot drink of choice.

Those who reported drinking coffee “hot” had a 5.5 times the risk of developing cancer, while those who enjoyed it “very hot” had a 4.1-fold increase in risk.

People who drink their coffee “warm” were found to be 2.7 times more likely to develop the oesophageal cancer.

Oesophageal cancer is a relatively rare cancer, with around 9,300 new diagnoses every year.

This represents around 2.5 per cent of the total 375,000 cancer cases in the UK each year.

Cancer Research UK estimates that more than one in 10 (12.4 per cent) of people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more.

The study found no links between coffee and the most common types of cancer, leading experts to hypothesise that the most likely explanation is that heat from hot drinks damages the oesophagus.

“Hot drinks can cause oesophagitis which is a precursor to cancer, and hot water has been found to promote carcinogenesis in rat and mouse models of oesophageal cancer,” the study said.

Dr Stephen Burgess, an author of the study, commented: “While a link with any cancer type is unwelcome, our investigation generally provides good news for coffee drinkers, as there was no evidence supporting a causal effect of coffee consumption on any major cancer type.”