Epidemiology

British Journal of Cancer (2002) 87, 956–959. doi:10.1038/sj.bjc.6600582 www.bjcancer.com
Published online 21 October 2002

Does coffee protect against hepatocellular carcinoma?

S Gallus1, M Bertuzzi1, A Tavani1, C Bosetti1, E Negri1, C La Vecchia1,2, P Lagiou3 and D Trichopoulos4

  1. 1Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', 20157 Milano, Italy
  2. 2Istituto di Statistica Medica e Biometria, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
  3. 3Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Goudi, Athens 115-27, Greece
  4. 4Department of Epidemiology and Center for Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA

Correspondence: Silvano Gallus, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche 'Mario Negri', Via Eritrea, 62 – 20157 Milano, Italy; E-mail: gallus@marionegri.it

Received 5 June 2002; Revised 31 July 2002; Accepted 7 August 2002.

Top

Abstract

We analysed the relation between coffee consumption and hepatocellular carcinoma in two case-control studies conducted between 1984 and 1998 in Italy and Greece, including 834 cases and 1912 controls. Compared to non coffee drinkers, the multivariate odds ratio was 0.7 for drinkers of three or more cups per day.

Keywords:

coffee, hepatocellular carcinoma, risk factors, case-control study