Coffee Drinking Lowers the Risk of Liver Cancer in Japanese

Researchers from Japan have reported that drinking one or more cups of coffee per day lowers the risk of liver cancer by over 40%. They found that this effect was also present in patients with liver disease who were at high risk of developing liver cancer. The details of this report appear in the August 10, 2005 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.

Liver cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in the world, although the incidence in the U.S. is relatively low. Chronic hepatitis B and C infections are an important cause of liver cancer and are reputed to cause 90% of all cases in Japan. There is suggestive evidence that treatment of hepatitis C infections with interferon and anti-virals may decrease the incidence of liver cancer. There have been significant decreases in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan and Brazil without changes in the incidence of hepatitis C and B infections.

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