NEW YORK - Men who enjoy their morning cup of coffee can drink a little easier. A new research review finds that java lovers appear no more likely to develop prostate cancer than other men.
In an analysis of a dozen studies on coffee intake and prostate cancer risk, researchers found no strong evidence linking the beverage to either an increased or decreased risk of the disease.
The findings, published in the medical journal BJU International, add to the conflicting body of research on coffee and cancer risk.
A number of studies have found connections between regular coffee consumption and certain cancers -- a decreased risk in some cases, and an increased risk in others. A study published last month, for example, found that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of head and neck cancers than non-drinkers did, with the risk declining as coffee consumption rose.
Studies on prostate cancer have come to conflicting conclusions, with some linking greater coffee consumption to a heightened risk of the cancer and others showing no relationship between the two.
To investigate further, researchers led by Dr. Chang-Hae Park, of the National Cancer Center in Goyang, South Korea, pooled the results of 12 previous studies on coffee intake and prostate cancer risk.
Overall, they found no strong relationship between men's reported coffee-drinking habits and their risk of prostate cancer.
According to the researchers, the discrepancies among past studies on coffee and prostate cancer risk may be explained by the studies' designs.
Of the studies the researchers reviewed, eight were what are known as case-control studies, where people with a disease are compared with similar individuals -- typically of the same age and sex -- who are free of the disease.
Those types of studies have a number of limitations, including the fact that participants are asked to recall their past lifestyle habits.
So, for example, because coffee drinking is often seen as a less-than- healthy habit, prostate cancer patients may recall their consumption as being greater than it actually was. Healthy study participants, on the other hand, may have an overly rosy view of their lifestyle habits.
