Drinking Hot tea associated with increased risk of Esophageal cancer

In a new study conducted by Hui Luo and team it was seen that hot tea drinkers had a substantially elevated incidence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but no substantial connection with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). The findings of this study were published Frontiers in Nutrition.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is the 7th most frequent cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death globally, with around 70% of cases occurring in males and a 2- to 3-fold disparity in incidence and fatality rates between various locations. Tea drinking has been established in several laboratory tests to protect against the development of esophageal cancer. However, conflicting or even contradictory results were commonly seen in epidemiological research, particularly when drinking tea at higher temperatures. Given the inconsistency of the link and the possibility that individual studies may be underpowered to detect the possible risk of EC and hot tea drinking, this meta-analysis was done to more properly examine this correlation.

Researchers searched Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science for relevant research up to October 13, 2021, and they also manually extracted the material in the included studies and recent reviews.

The key findings of this study were as follow:

1. A total of 23 suitable publications, encompassing 5,050 cases and 10,609 controls, were found, and a meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software (version 2.0).

2. When drinking tea at a higher temperature, there was a statistically significant increase in EC risk (odds ratios (ORs) = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.48–2.15, p = 0.00).

3. With the exception of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), this higher risk was reported in the majority of groupings, including European and Australian populations.

In conclusion, according to this meta-analysis, drinking hot tea is related with a considerably increased risk of esophageal cancer, specifically squamous cell carcinoma. Given the prevalence of hot tea intake in modern culture, the findings of this meta-analysis have substantial implications for esophageal cancer etiology study and prevention.

Reference:

Luo, H., & Ge, H. (2022). Hot Tea Consumption and Esophageal Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. In Frontiers in Nutrition (Vol. 9). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.831567