Detailed Findings Show Coffee Protects Against Breast Cancer Recurrence

Hold your coffee cup a little closer because a new research brings with it some good news! It says that drinking just two cups of coffee a day can help inhibit the growth of tumours and reduce the risk of recurrence in women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.The study, which is a follow-up of the results the researchers obtained two years ago, was carried out at Lund University and Skane University Hospital, in collaboration with researchers in the UK and appeared in the journal Clinical Cancer Research."Now, unlike in the previous study, we have combined information about the patients' lifestyle and clinical data from 1090 breast cancer patients with studies on breast cancer cells. The study shows that among the over 500 women treated with tamoxifen, those who had drank at least two cups of coffee a day had only half the risk of recurrence of those who drank less coffee or none at all," explain researchers Ann Rosendahl and Helena Jernstrom, who obtained the results in collaboration with Jeff Holly and his research team at University of Bristol.In the cell study, the researchers looked more closely at two substances found in coffee - caffeine and caffeic acid. "The breast cancer cells reacted to these substances, especially caffeine, with reduced cell division and increased cell death, especially in combination with tamoxifen," Rosendahl noted. "This shows that these substances have an effect on the breast cancer cells and turn off signalling pathways that the cancer cells require to grow," Rosendahl said."The study also shows that those who drank at least two cups of coffee a day had smaller tumours and a lower proportion of hormone-dependent tumours. We saw that this was already the case at the time of diagnosis," Rosendahl noted.The researchers have demonstrated both in breast cancer patients and at cell level that coffee appears to reinforce the effect of treatment with tamoxifen, but emphasise the importance of taking prescribed medication. "They are incredibly important, but if you like coffee and are also taking tamoxifen, there is no reason to stop drinking it. Just two cups a day is sufficient to make a difference."With inputs from IANS and the official Lund University website.