Lower Risk of Endometrial Cancer Possible with Regular Coffee Drinking

American researchers at the Roswell Park Center Institute have echoed and expanded upon a recent Japanese study that revealed that drinking coffee helps women lower the risk of endometrial cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer in women. The unique element in this study is that coffee, combined with tea drinking, increases its powerful effect while drinking only tea or drinking only coffee has a beneficial effect but lower than the combination of the two. Decaffeinated coffee had no impact at all on the development of this form of cancer. In the study of 1,100 women, those who drank only coffee, such as more than two cups per day, had a 29% less risk of developing the cancer, yet those who drank four or more cups of both beverages had a 50% less risk. The research also revealed that caffeine may indeed be the primary beneficial element in coffee. Coffee has previously been shown to offer other benefits. It decreases both insulin and estrogen levels which can activate cancer not only in the endometrium but in the cervix, and other areas in and around the uterus. Caffeine is well known to induce certain enzymes into the body to help neutralize carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substances in the body. Researchers believe that caffeine isn't the only positive element working to lower women's risk of this deadly disease which affects the inner membrane (endometrium) of the uterus.

American researchers at the Roswell Park Center Institute have echoed and expanded upon a recent Japanese study that revealed that drinking coffee helps women lower the risk of endometrial cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer in women.

The unique element in this study is that coffee, combined with tea drinking, increases its powerful effect while drinking only tea or drinking only coffee has a beneficial effect but lower than the combination of the two. Decaffeinated coffee had no impact at all on the development of this form of cancer.

In the study of 1,100 women, those who drank only coffee, such as more than two cups per day, had a 29% less risk of developing the cancer, yet those who drank four or more cups of both beverages had a 50% less risk.

The research also revealed that caffeine may indeed be the primary beneficial element in coffee. Coffee has previously been shown to offer other benefits. It decreases both insulin and estrogen levels which can activate cancer not only in the endometrium but in the cervix, and other areas in and around the uterus.

Caffeine is well known to induce certain enzymes into the body to help neutralize carcinogenic (cancer-causing) substances in the body. Researchers believe that caffeine isn't the only positive element working to lower women's risk of this deadly disease which affects the inner membrane (endometrium) of the uterus.

The other elements researchers believe are beneficial are flavonoids, catechins, and isofavones, well known antioxidants which protect the cells in the body from damage, the first step to the development of cancer. They are also commonly found in vegetables and fruits.

Last year's Japanese study demonstrated that women who drank one to three cups of coffee per day were 40% less likely to develop uterine cancer over those who drank a few cups per week or none at all. The more coffee the women surveyed drank the lower the rate of contracting the cancer, 60%. Because Japan is a primarily tea-drinking country the results of women drinking coffee and its benefit on a particular woman's disease has proved to be a significant revelation, said officials from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.

The article on the American study was published in the April 1, 2009 edition of the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Susan E. McCann, PhD, RD, Assistant Member in the Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Dr. McCann, who is also a dietician, said that thinner women in the study were less likely to develop these cancers than obese women; older women, and those who used estrogen therapy after menopause were more likely to develop this form of cancer. There remain lingering questions about how diet contributes to the development of uterine cancer, however, the consumption of caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea, are decidedly positive.