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Drinking coffee lowers the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), according to results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting. The study followed 179,890 men and women. Over a median of 16.6 years, 498 developed HCC.

Compared to people who consumed fewer than six cups of coffee a week, those who drank one to three cups a day were 29 per cent less likely to develop HCC. Those who consumed four or more cups a day had a 42 per cent lower risk. The inverse relationship between coffee consumption and HCC risk was independent of ethnicity, sex, body mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake and diabetes status.

Another recent study has shown that coffee reduces the risk of death from non-viral cirrhosis in people from Asia (Hepatology). The study followed 63,275 people between 45 and 74 years of age living in Singapore for a mean of 14.7 years. During this time, 114 people died from cirrhosis, usually caused by hepatitis B virus (29 per cent), alcohol (12 per cent) and hepatitis C (2 per cent).

Coffee did not influence deaths from viral-related cirrhosis but, compared to people who did not drink coffee daily, those who drank one cup were 39 per cent less likely to die from non-viral cirrhosis. Drinking at least two cups of coffee per day reduced the risk by 66 per cent. Black tea, green tea, fruit juices or soft drinks did not influence mortality from cirrhosis.

“Our study is the first to demonstrate a difference between the effects of coffee on non-viral and viral hepatitis-related cirrhosis mortality,” comments lead researcher, Woon-Puay Koh, National University of Singapore.