Science and Health

Colon cancer not associated with coffee, sodas: US study

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-08 13:21

LOS ANGELES - Drinking coffee and sodas might not boost the risk of colon caner, a new study suggests.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health drew the conclusion after analyzing 13 studies which involved more than 730,000 people, of whom more than 5,600 developed colon cancer.

The new research findings, published online on May 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that drinking more than six eight-ounce cups of coffee or eight-ounce cups of sugar soft drinks a day did not boost the risk of colon cancer.

The researchers said the findings were not affected much by factors such as gender, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Previous research has been inconsistent about whether coffee and tea boost the risk of cancer. Sugary sodas, meanwhile, are linked to obesity and other conditions that are thought to boost the risk of colon cancer in particular.

The new study, however, found a small boost in colon cancer risk for heavy tea drinkers, who drank more than four eight-ounce cups of non-herbal tea a day.

But since there were not so many people that consumed that much tea, more study is needed to determine if too much tea raises risk, the researchers said.