Daily Coffee Consumption can Improve Survival in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients

Coffee consumption may be linked to a decreased risk of disease progression and death in patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, reports a new study. The findings of the study are published in the journal JAMA Oncology.

Based on data from large observational research nested in a clinical trial, the findings are in line with earlier studies proving a connection between regular coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer.

‘Drinking a few coffee cups a day is linked to longer survival and a lower risk of cancer worsening among patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. ’

In the cohort study of 1171 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, raised coffee consumption at the time of study enrollment was linked to lower risk of disease progression and death. Significant correlations were noted for both decaffeinated and caffeinated coffee.

The findings enabled investigators to establish a link, but not a cause-and-effect relationship between coffee drinking and decreased risk of cancer progression and death among study participants. As a result, the study doesn't provide enough grounds for recommending, at this point, that people with advanced colorectal cancer start drinking coffee on a daily basis or raise their consumption of the drink, researchers state.

"There are several compounds in coffee that have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and other properties that may be active against cancer," states Dana-Farber's Chen Yuan, ScD, the co-first author of the study.

The novel study drew on data from the Alliance/SWOG 80405 study, a phase III clinical trial comparing the addition of the drugs bevacizumab and cetuximab to standard chemotherapy in patients with previously locally advanced, metastatic colorectal cancer. As part of the trial, volunteers reported their dietary intake, including coffee consumption, on a questionnaire at the time of enrollment. Researchers compared this data with information on the course of cancer after treatment.

The study found that participants who drank two to three cups of coffee per day had a decreased hazard for death and for cancer progression than to those who didn't drink coffee. Those who consumed more than 4 cups a day had an even greater benefit.

Source: Medindia