Coffee against breast cancer

Based on the type of variant of a gene in women, the rate of consumption of coffee from 2 to 3 cups a day can completely reduce the risk of developing breast cancer or slow the onset of cancer. This has been demonstrated in a recent study by Lund University and Malmö University in Sweden.

The effect of coffee is related to estrogen hormones - female sex hormones. Some metabolic products of these hormones are considered carcinogens, and many different components of coffee can alter metabolism, so that women achieve a configuration of other estrogen hormones. each other better. Moreover, coffee also contains caffeine, which can prevent the growth of cancer cells.

Cancer researcher Helena Jernström and her colleagues studied the coffee drinking habits of 460 breast cancer patients being treated in Lund. The results show that the effect of coffee varies depending on the type of variant of the female CYP1A2 gene. Half of those women had A / A variants, while others had A / C or C / C variants.

Helena Jernstruck said: 'Same consumption of coffee is the same, but women who have one of the C variants and drink at least 3 cups of coffee a day rarely find breast cancer much more than those women have A / A variant. Their risk of cancer is only two-thirds of other women. "

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Women with A / A variants who drank 2-3 cups of coffee a day received more vague help by drinking coffee. On the other hand, their cancer appears much slower than women who rarely or never drink coffee at an average age of 58 instead of 48, unless they have been treated for menopausal symptoms with Hormone replacement method. On the other hand, nearly 15% of these women have estrogen-sensitive tumors (ER negative), which are difficult to treat. However, most tumors are estrogen-sensitive and easier to treat. And women who develop breast cancer at an older age often perform better than those who develop the disease at a younger age.

However, she stressed that it is still too early to make any recommendations about drinking coffee."This is new information that needs to be validated through many other studies before we can make any recommendations. If coffee really helps fight breast cancer then women in coffee drinking countries. As Sweden is likely to have less cancer than other countries, this is also true, at least compared to the US The rate of breast cancer cases there is significantly higher, and there people just drink it. More coffee is filtered out of caffeine and generally less coffee. '

The findings of this study are published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, in collaboration with student Dr. Erika Bågeman - the main author.