Data from Cancer Research UK showed that people who described their drink as “very hot” were three times more likely to have oesophageal cancer compared with those who drank it at a lower temperature. This increased risk was 70 percent among people who described their drink as merely “hot.”
According to The Telegraph, this research was conducted by specialists at the University of Oxford using data from about 980,000 participants in two British studies - the UK Biobank and the Million Women Study.
Results showed that the drinking temperature of tea and coffee in Western countries is about 60 degrees Celsius, and beverage temperature affects the risk of developing one of the two main types of oesophageal cancer, known as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
No clear effect was observed on the other type of this cancer, namely adenocarcinoma.
Experts say the likely reason is that high temperature can damage the cells lining the oesophagus. The oesophagus is a muscular tube that runs from the mouth, along the chest, to the stomach.
Kern Papier, the lead researcher of this study, said these findings add to the body of international evidence about the association between very hot beverages, such as the herbal drink “mate” in South America, and an increased risk of certain types of oesophageal cancer. What was less clear was whether this association also applied to the temperatures at which hot drinks are typically consumed in Western societies.
He added: “This study is now the largest research to examine this issue in the UK population; a place where many people drink tea and coffee every day. Its results strengthen the existing evidence that drinking very hot liquids may increase the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma.”
According to Papier, “more research is needed to determine the exact temperature of beverages that are associated with this increased risk.”
Fiona Aspinall, Director of Health Information at Cancer Research UK, says that although this risk remains “relatively low” in the UK, people can take a few simple actions for possible prevention, such as allowing tea or coffee to cool slightly before drinking or adding a little cold milk to it.
She added: “The most important ways to reduce the risk of this type of cancer are not smoking and reducing alcohol consumption.”
About 9,500 cases of oesophageal cancer are diagnosed annually in the UK, and the lifetime risk of developing oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma is about 1 percent.