Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium

Timothy Nguyen^{1

2}, Alzina Koric^{2

3}, Chun-Pin Esther Chang², Christine Barul⁴, Loredana Radoi⁵, Diego Serraino⁶, Mark P Purdue⁷, Karl T Kelsey⁸, Michael D McClean⁹, Eva Negri¹⁰, Valeria Edefonti¹¹, Kirsten Moysich¹², Zuo-Feng Zhang¹, Hal Morgenstern¹³, Fabio Levi¹⁴, Thomas L Vaughan¹⁵, Carlo La Vecchia^{10

16}, Werner Garavello¹⁷, Richard B Hayes¹⁸, Simone Benhamou¹⁹, Stimson P Schantz²⁰, Guo-Pei Yu²¹, Hermann Brenner^{22

23

24}, Shu-Chun Chuang²⁵, Paolo Boffetta^{26

27

28}, Mia Hashibe², Yuan-Chin Amy Lee²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Division of Public Health, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, and Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
³ Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁴ Univ Rennes, INSERM, EHESP, Institut de recherche en sante, environnement et travail-UMR_S 1085, Pointe-a-Pitre, France.
⁵ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Université Paris Cité, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, Villejuif, France.
⁶ Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy.
⁷ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁹ Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹² Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA.
¹³ Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Univesity of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹⁶ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
¹⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
¹⁸ Division of Epidemiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁹ National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Inserm U1018, Villejuif, France.
²⁰ New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, New York, USA.
²¹ Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
²² Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
²³ Division of Preventive Oncology, German Cancer Research Center and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁴ German Cancer Consortium, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁵ Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli, Taiwan.
²⁶ Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
²⁷ Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
²⁸ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

PMID: 39711146
PMCID: PMC11733827
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.35620

Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium

Timothy Nguyen et al. Cancer. 2025.

. 2025 Jan 15;131(2):e35620.

doi: 10.1002/cncr.35620. Epub 2024 Dec 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Division of Public Health, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, and Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
³ Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
⁴ Univ Rennes, INSERM, EHESP, Institut de recherche en sante, environnement et travail-UMR_S 1085, Pointe-a-Pitre, France.
⁵ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Université Paris Cité, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, Villejuif, France.
⁶ Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, CRO Aviano National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Italy.
⁷ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
⁸ Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁹ Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
¹² Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA.
¹³ Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Epidemiology and Health Services Research, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Univesity of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA.
¹⁶ Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.
¹⁷ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy.
¹⁸ Division of Epidemiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
¹⁹ National Institute of Health and Medical Research, Inserm U1018, Villejuif, France.
²⁰ New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, New York, USA.
²¹ Department of Otolaryngology, School of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA.
²² Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
²³ Division of Preventive Oncology, German Cancer Research Center and National Center for Tumor Diseases, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁴ German Cancer Consortium, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁵ Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Zhunan, Miaoli, Taiwan.
²⁶ Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
²⁷ Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
²⁸ Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

PMID: 39711146
PMCID: PMC11733827
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.35620

Abstract

Introduction: The relations between coffee and tea consumption and head and neck cancer (HNC) incidence are unclear. With increasing global HNC burden, this study aims to examine the association between coffee, tea, and HNC.

Methods: A pooled analysis of 9548 HNC cases and 15,783 controls from 14 individual-level case-control studies was conducted from the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology consortium. Random-effects logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for HNC and its subsites, adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.

Results: Compared to non-coffee drinkers, drinking >4 cups of caffeinated coffee daily was inversely associated with HNC (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.69-1.00), oral cavity (OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.55-0.89), and oropharyngeal cancers (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.61-0.99). Drinking 3-4 cups of caffeinated coffee was inversely associated with hypopharyngeal cancer (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.39-0.91). Drinking decaffeinated coffee and drinking between >0 to <1 cup daily were inversely associated with oral cavity cancer (OR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.64-0.87 and OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.54-0.81). Drinking tea was inversely associated with hypopharyngeal cancer (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.59-0.87). Daily tea consumption of >0 to ≤1 cup was inversely associated with HNC (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.98) and hypopharyngeal cancer (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59-0.91), but drinking >1 cup was associated with laryngeal cancer (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.09-1.74).

Conclusion: These findings support reduced HNC risk among coffee and tea drinkers. Future studies are needed to address geographical differences in types of coffee and tea to improve our understanding of the association of coffee and tea and global HNC risk.

Keywords: coffee and tea; head and neck cancer; pooled analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

**FIGURE 1**
Study‐specific odds ratios for >4 cups of caffeinated coffee daily versus non–coffee drinkers for oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancers.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium

Affiliations

Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of head and neck cancer: An updated pooled analysis in the International Head and Neck Cancer Epidemiology Consortium

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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