Excessively hot drinks rather than coffee are responsible for high rates of oesophageal cancer in some parts of the world, experts said yesterday.
The findings from the International Agency for Research on Cancer were published yesterday in The Lancet Oncology.
Researchers said there was "limited" evidence from epidemiological studies in regions such as China, Iran, Turkey and South America linked drinks drunk at temperatures of 70C or more with oesophageal cancer.
Drinks such as tea, coffee and the South American drink maté are brewed at high temperatures in these countries.
According to the analysis there is no indication of what proportion of the 400,000 deaths annually globally from the disease linked to hot drinks.
There was no "conclusive" evidence linking coffee itself to the development of cancer, according to the analysis. There was also evidence of the drink being linked to reduced risk of developing cancers of the liver and endometrium.
IARC director Dr Christopher Wild said: “These results suggest that drinking very hot beverages is one probable cause of oesophageal cancer and that it is the temperature, rather than the drinks themselves, that appears to be responsible.
“Smoking and alcohol drinking are major causes of oesophageal cancer, particularly in many high-income countries. However, the majority of oesophageal cancers occur in parts of Asia, South America, and East Africa, where regularly drinking very hot beverages is common and where the reasons for the high incidence of this cancer are not as well understood.”
Lancet Oncology 15 June 2016
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