The lining of the uterus (the reproductive organ in a woman’s pelvis) is called as endometrium. The
EC is one of the challenging gynecological cancers that has affected 382,069 new cases and attributed to 89,929 deaths globally in 2018. Some of the risk factors of EC are obesity, metabolic syndrome, intake of tamoxifen (for breast cancer), or estrogen-only pills (without progesterone).
However, earlier lines of evidence suggest that drinking coffee is one of the risk factors for endometrial cancer. Hence the present study intended to analyze the association between drinking coffee and EC risk.
Coffee and Endometrial Cancer
The team analyzed 24 studies (using standard database search until July 2018) on coffee intake (12 case-control and 12 cohort studies) that recorded the occurrence of 9,833 new endometrial cancer cases in 699,234 individuals.
It was found that people who had the highest intake of coffee were having a relatively lower risk of developing endometrial cancer by 29% when compared to those who consumed the lowest amount of coffee.
Coffee to Prevent Endometrial Cancer
There have been earlier studies that have highlighted the link between drinking coffee and significantly reduced risk for endometrial cancer.
It is found that a high intake of caffeine helps to reduce the levels of free estrogen (higher levels stimulate the proliferation of endometrial cells and cancer), thereby diminishing the risk of endometrial cancer.
In addition, coffee is also found to contain phytoestrogens and antioxidants that help in decreasing the risk of endometrial cancer. The present study also highlights various mechanisms that depict the coffee’s potential anti-cancer effects.
“Further studies with large sample size are needed… to obtain more information regarding the benefits of coffee drinking in relation to the risk of endometrial cancer,” say the study authors.
References:
- Association between coffee drinking and endometrial cancer risk: A meta-analysis
– (https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jog.15139) - Endometrial Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)-Patient Version
– (https://www.cancer.gov/types/uterine/patient/endometrial-treatment-pdq) - Coffee drinking and risk of endometrial cancer – a population-based cohort study
– (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2773380/#:~:text=More%20specifically%2C%20women%20drinking%202,endometrial%20cancer%20among%20all%20women.) - Global, Regional, and National Burden of Endometrial Cancer, 1990-2017: Results From the Global Burden of Disease Study, 2017
– (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930915/#:~:text=Endometrial%20cancer%20(EC)%20is%20an,worldwide%20in%202018%20(2).)
Source: Medindia
