Health & Medicine
Drinking Coffee May Combat Breast Cancer
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Apr 22, 2015 07:34 AM EDT
Coffee may actually protect women against breast cancer. Scientists have found that coffee inhibits the growth of tumors and reduces the risk of recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with the drug tamoxifen.
The study is actually a follow-up of results that the researchers obtained two years ago. Unlike in the previous study, though, the scientists combined information about the patients' lifestyles and clinical data from 1,090 breast cancer patients with studies on breast cancer cells.
The researchers examined two substances that usually occur in the coffee drunk in Sweden, caffeine and caffeic acid. By studying their effects, the researchers found that they actually inhibited the growth of tumors.
"The breast cancer cells reacted to these substances, especially caffeine, with reduced cell division and increased cell death, especially in combination with tamoxifen," write the researchers Ann Rosendahl and Helena Jernstrom, in a news release. "This shows that these substances have an effect on the breast cancer cells and turn off signaling pathways that the cancer cells require to grow."
In fact, the researchers found that both in breast cancer patients and at cell level, coffee appears to reinforce the effect of treatment with tamoxifen. Among over 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who had drunk at least two cups of coffee a day had only half the risk of recurrence of those who drank less coffee or none at all. However, the scientists are quick to note that it's still important to take prescribed medication.
"They are incredibly important but if you like coffee and are also taking tamoxifen, there is no reason to stop drinking it," write the researchers. "Just two cups a day is sufficient to make a difference."
The findings reveal that coffee may actually help women with breast cancer. That said, this is a small effect, and women shouldn't count on the beverage as a "cure."
The findings are published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
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First Posted: Apr 22, 2015 07:34 AM EDT
Coffee may actually protect women against breast cancer. Scientists have found that coffee inhibits the growth of tumors and reduces the risk of recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with the drug tamoxifen.
The study is actually a follow-up of results that the researchers obtained two years ago. Unlike in the previous study, though, the scientists combined information about the patients' lifestyles and clinical data from 1,090 breast cancer patients with studies on breast cancer cells.
The researchers examined two substances that usually occur in the coffee drunk in Sweden, caffeine and caffeic acid. By studying their effects, the researchers found that they actually inhibited the growth of tumors.
"The breast cancer cells reacted to these substances, especially caffeine, with reduced cell division and increased cell death, especially in combination with tamoxifen," write the researchers Ann Rosendahl and Helena Jernstrom, in a news release. "This shows that these substances have an effect on the breast cancer cells and turn off signaling pathways that the cancer cells require to grow."
In fact, the researchers found that both in breast cancer patients and at cell level, coffee appears to reinforce the effect of treatment with tamoxifen. Among over 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who had drunk at least two cups of coffee a day had only half the risk of recurrence of those who drank less coffee or none at all. However, the scientists are quick to note that it's still important to take prescribed medication.
"They are incredibly important but if you like coffee and are also taking tamoxifen, there is no reason to stop drinking it," write the researchers. "Just two cups a day is sufficient to make a difference."
The findings reveal that coffee may actually help women with breast cancer. That said, this is a small effect, and women shouldn't count on the beverage as a "cure."
The findings are published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone