Drinking very hot tea may increase risk of esophageal cancer

DELHI: If you like your cup of tea or coffee extremely hot then there is a reason for you to worry. A recent study published in the International Journal of Cancer has found a link between drinking of hot drinks and the risk of esophageal cancer. According to which, drinking 700 ml per day of hot beverage or more at a more than 60°C is associated with a 90% higher risk of esophageal cancer compared with drinking less than 700 ml per day at a temperature less than 60°C.

Hot tea, coffee, and maté may cause esophageal cancer (EC) by causing injury to the esophageal mucosa. A large number of epidemiological studies have investigated the association between the consumption of hot drinks and risk of EC. Farhad Islami, Digestive Disease Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, and colleagues conducted a systematic review of these studies.

The study followed 50,045 individuals aged 40 to 75 years for a median of 10 years. During follow-up, 317 new cases of esophageal cancer were identified.

The authors found that compared with drinking less than 700 ml of tea per day at less than 60°C, drinking 700 ml per day or more at a higher temperature (60°C or higher) was associated with a 90 percent higher risk of esophageal cancer.

"Many people enjoy drinking tea, coffee, or other hot beverages. However, according to our report, drinking very hot tea can increase the risk of esophageal cancer, and it is, therefore, advisable to wait until hot beverages cool down before drinking," said lead author Dr. Islami.

"For tea and coffee, there was little evidence that the amount consumed was associated with EC risk, but the majority of the publications reported statistically significant increased risks associated with a higher temperature of use. For maté, individual studies and combined analyses showed an increased risk of EC associated with both the amount consumed and temperature of drinking, and these 2 seemed to be independent risk factors. For other hot foods and drinks, the majority of studies showed a higher risk of EC associated with a higher temperature of use," write the authors.

In conclusion, there was little evidence for an association between EC risk and amount of tea or coffee consumed, but the results suggest an increased risk of EC associated with higher drinking temperature.

"Future studies will require standardized strategies that allow for combining data, and the results should be reported by histological subtypes of EC," concluded the authors.

For detailed study click on the link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.24445