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Espresso, cappuccino lower prostate cancer risk
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Drinking 3 or more cups of Italian-style coffee, such as caffé espresso and moka, as well as their combinations with milk, including caffé latte, cappuccino and macchiato, each day can reduce the risk of prostate cancer, according to epidemiological findings published in International Journal of Cancer.
“In recent years, we have seen a number of international studies on this issue, but scientific evidence has been considered insufficient to draw conclusions,” George Pounis, PhD, from the department of epidemiology and prevention at IRCCS Neuromed in Italy, said in a press release. “Moreover, in some cases results were contradictory.”
The researchers examined the effect of Italian-style coffee consumption on prostate cancer risk in a cohort of almost 7,000 Italian men aged 50 years and older. The men completed questionnaires for dietary assessment and to evaluate coffee consumption, and were followed for an average of 4.24 years. To evaluate the potential in vitro effect of antiproliferative and antimetastatic activity of caffeine on prostate cancer cell lines, the researchers tested coffee extracts containing caffeine and decaffeinated coffee extracts on the prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU145, using increasing concentrations of caffeine.
Over the follow-up period, there were 100 new cases of prostate cancer. The results showed a 53% net reduction of prostate cancer risk in participants who drank more than 3 cups of Italian-style coffee daily compared with those who drank 2 or fewer cups per day (P = .02). Pounis and colleagues observed that both human prostate cancer cell lines treated with caffeine exhibited significant reduction in their proliferative and metastatic behaviors (P < .05), but did not see this reduction when they examined decaffeinated coffee extracts. The researchers determined that the reduced risk for prostate cancer was likely due to caffeine, not the many other substances contained in coffee.
“We should keep in mind that the study [was] conducted on a central Italy population. They prepare coffee [in a] rigorously Italian way: high pressure, very high-water temperature and with no filters,” Licia Iacoviello, MD, PhD, head of the laboratory of molecular and nutritional epidemiology at Neuromed Institute, said in the release. “This method, different from those followed in other areas of the world, could lead to a higher concentration of bioactive substances ... Coffee is an integral part of the Italian lifestyle, which, we must remember, is not made just by individual foods, but also by the specific way they are prepared.” – by Savannah Demko
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.