Coffee can be considered a healthy drink, as it can protect you from cancer, the latest Swedish study has found. It follows other research on the pros of coffee in fighting off the potentially deadly disease.
“The caffeine turns
off the signal paths to breast cancer cells. This results in
slower cell proliferation and increased cell death,” said
Ann Rosendahl, a researcher at Lund University and co-author of
the study, The Local reported.
It all began two years ago when scientists at Lund University
showed that a couple of cups of coffee per day could help avoid
the recurrence of breast cancer.
The pattern was noticeable especially in those who were treated
with anti-hormone medication Tamoxifen.
“For the women treated with tamoxifen and who drank at least
two cups of coffee a day, the risk of relapse is almost half that
of those who drank a small quantity of coffee or no coffee at
all,” Rosendahl explained.
It turns out that caffeine has an impact on the signaling
pathways that cancer needs to grow.
“We have now gone down into the cellular level and thus
gained a greater understanding of the underlying causes,”
Rosendahl added.
As many as 1,100 women took part in the study, of whom over 500
were taking the drug Tamoxifen.
Several studies have lately suggested that drinking coffee
reduces the risk of various types of cancer, and also may help
avoid its recurrence.
In particular, those who drink at least four cups of coffee daily
have a 20 percent lower risk of skin cancer (malignant melanoma)
than those drinking the least, according to a recent research by
the US National Cancer Institute.
For men who drink over six cups of coffee per day, the risk of
getting a fatal cancer is reduced by 60 percent, while three cups
a day diminish it by 30 percent, according to the 2011 study,
also by the National Cancer Institute.