A large-scale study has found that drinking tea, coffee, and other beverages while very hot may increase the risk of developing esophageal cancer.
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Researchers from Oxford University found that people who prefer their drinks very hot were more than three times as likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus compared to those who prefer them warm.
Drinking more than six hot beverages a day was also linked to a 71% higher risk of esophageal cancer, regardless of the drink's temperature.
The researchers analyzed data from around 980,000 adults in the UK, followed for more than a decade. Participants recorded the temperature at which they preferred their drinks and how many they consumed daily. During the study period, 2,348 people developed esophageal cancer, including 1,045 cases of squamous cell carcinoma.
The researchers accounted for other risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity. They found no increased risk of adenocarcinoma, the other main type of esophageal cancer.
The study doesn't measure the actual temperature of the drinks, but relies instead on participants' own estimation of how hot they were. Previous research suggests that drinks reaching around 70°C are considered very hot, while the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies drinks above 65°C as "probably carcinogenic."
The researchers said high heat may repeatedly damage cells in the esophagus, potentially contributing to cancer development, though they stressed the need for further research to precisely determine the temperatures associated with risk.
Fiona Osgun of Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, said the findings add to the evidence pointing to a link between drinking very hot beverages and an increased risk of squamous cell esophageal cancer, noting that letting a drink cool slightly is a simple step people can take.
Professor Moi Tec The of Queen Mary University of London cautioned against interpreting the findings as proof that hot drinks directly cause cancer, explaining that the study showed an association between the two, not a causal relationship.
Resource: Al-Ghad.
