Coffee and tea consumption not associated with thyroid cancer risk

Takeaway

• European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study found no significant association between coffee and tea consumption and overall differentiated thyroid cancer (TC) risk in either men or women.

Why this matters

• There is limited epidemiological evidence on the association between coffee and tea intake; a protective association on tea consumption and TC risk was observed in a recent meta-analysis, while no association was seen with coffee intake in another meta-analysis.

Study design

• EPIC cohort study included 476,108 participants (men, 333,876; women, 142,232).
• Coffee and tea intakes were assessed using validated country-specific dietary questionnaires.
• Funding: Institute of Health Carlos III and European Regional Development Fund.

Key results

• During a mean follow-up of 14 years, overall 748 participants were diagnosed with incident differentiated TC.
• Coffee consumption (per 100 mL/day) was not associated with risk for total differentiated TC (HR_calibrated, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.97-1.04) and other TC subtypes.
• No significant association was seen between tea consumption (per 100 mL/day) and the risk for total differentiated TC (HR_calibrated, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.95-1.02) and papillary tumour (HR_calibrated, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.95-1.03).
• An inverse association was seen between tea consumption and follicular tumour risk (HR_calibrated, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.81-0.99).

Limitations

• Study results were influenced by measurement errors in the dietary assessment.
• Potential dietary changes during follow-up were not considered.