Drinking very hot beverages could triple cancer risk, large study finds
A large-scale study of nearly one million people in the UK suggests that consuming very hot beverages is linked to a three-fold increase in the risk of esophageal cancer. Researchers indicate that a significant portion of these cancer cases could potentially be avoided by drinking coffee and tea at lower temperatures.
Why it matters
This study provides actionable health advice regarding daily dietary habits that could significantly reduce cancer risk on a global scale.
A study of nearly a million people has found new evidence to suggest that drinking scalding hot coffees and teas could significantly increase a person’s risk of getting cancer in their esophagus. Drinking these beverages very hot, rather than warm, is associated with a three-fold risk of esophageal cancer, according to the study, conducted in the UK and published Tuesday in the International Journal of Cancer. The finding applies specifically to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the most common form of esophageal cancer worldwide. The esophagus, also known as the food pipe, is a muscular tube that passes food and drink from your mouth to your stomach. Globally, there were about 604,000 new cases of esophageal cancer and about 544,000 deaths from esophageal cancer in 2020, according to the World Health Organization’s cancer agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
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