Drinking very hot tea and coffee can triple your risk of cancer, Oxford study finds

Key Points:

• A University of Oxford study of nearly one million UK adults found that drinking very hot tea and coffee may increase the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), with very hot drinkers facing up to three times the risk compared to those drinking warm beverages.
• The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, combined data from the UK Biobank and Million Women Study, marking the most comprehensive UK examination of hot drink temperature and cancer risk to date.
• While the risk of oesophageal cancer remains low in the UK (around 1% lifetime risk for SCC), experts recommend letting hot drinks cool or adding cold milk to reduce potential harm, as temperatures above 65°C are considered probably carcinogenic.
• The study found no significant impact of hot drink temperature on the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, highlighting that the increased risk is specific to SCC, likely due to damage to the oesophageal lining from very hot liquids.
• Researchers emphasize the importance of other risk reduction measures such as not smoking and reducing alcohol consumption, and call for further research to determine the exact temperatures that increase cancer risk.