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Posted on Sep 04, 2008, 6 a.m.
By Rich Hurd
New research suggests that drinking coffee may protect women from developing cancer of the uterus, the fourth most common cancer in women in the US.
New research suggests that drinking coffee may protect women from developing cancer of the uterus, the fourth most common cancer in women in the US.
Researchers from Japan's National Cancer Center conducted a study of 53,724 Japanese women to determine whether coffee consumption had any effect upon the risk of developing endometrial cancer, the most common type of uterine cancer. Over the course of the 15-year-long study 117 women developed endometrial cancer.
Results showed that coffee consumption was significantly associated with a decreased risk of endometrial cancer. In fact, women who drank more than three cups of coffee per day were more than 60% less likely to develop endometrial cancer than women who drank fewer than two cups of coffee per week.
It is thought that coffee decreases circulating insulin and estrogen levels, high levels of which are linked to the development of endometrial cancer.
Shimazu T, Inoue M, Sasazuki S, Iwasaki M, Kurahashi N, Yamaji T, Tsugane S; for the JPHC Study GroupMembers of the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study. Coffee consumption and risk of endometrial cancer: A prospective study in Japan. Int J Cancer. 2008 Aug 18. [Epub ahead of print].
