Drinking large amounts of tea or coffee does not appear to increase breast cancer risk, researchers reported today.
Researchers studied the diets of 38,432 women and found that taking caffeine in food or drinks was not statistically significantly associated with overall risk of breast cancer.
But the researchers did find an increased risk for women with benign breast disease or tumours that are hormone-receptor negative or larger than two cm.
For women with benign breast disease, the most significant association was found for those who drank the equivalent of four cups or more daily, according to a report in the October 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
Consuming caffeine was associated with a 68 per cent increased risk of oestrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer, or tumours to which the hormones oestrogen and progesterone do not bind.
There was a 79 per cent increased risk for breast tumours larger than two cm.
Study author Ken Ishitani or Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston and Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Japan and colleagues said further studies were needed to better understand caffeine’s role.
"The mechanisms by which caffeine may affect breast carcinogenesis are complex and remain unclear," the authors said.
Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(18):2022-2031
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