Hot Tea and Esophageal Cancer
Authors: Farin Kamangar, Neal D. Freedman
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2018)

Editorials3 April 2018Hot Tea and Esophageal CancerFarin Kamangar, MD, PhD and Neal D. Freedman, PhD, MPHFarin Kamangar, MD, PhDMorgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (F.K.) and Neal D. Freedman, PhD, MPHNational Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (N.D.F.)Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M17-3370 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In their current Annals report, Yu and colleagues (1) show that drinking high-temperature tea, when combined with tobacco or alcohol use, is associated with an increased risk for esophageal cancer. Their study was well-designed. Its findings, which are based on long-term follow-up (median, 9.2 years) in more than 450 000 participants, are an important addition to the current literature (2).The hypothesis that drinking very hot beverages may cause esophageal cancer is not new. In the 1930s, based on clinical observations, New York physician W.L. Watson wrote, "Thermal irritation is probably the most constant factor predisposing to the cancer of the ...References1. Yu C, Tang H, Guo Y, Bian Z, Yang L, Chen Y, et al; China Kadoorie Biobank Collaborative Group. Hot tea consumption and its interactions with alcohol and tobacco use on the risk for esophageal cancer. A population-based cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 2018;168:489-97. doi:10.7326/M17-2000 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Loomis D, Guyton KZ, Grosse Y, Lauby-Secretan B, El Ghissassi F, Bouvard V, et al; International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group. Carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, mate, and very hot beverages. Lancet Oncol. 2016;17:877-8. [PMID: 27318851] doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(16)30239-X CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Watson WL. Cancer of the esophagus: some etiological considerations. Am J Roentgenol. 1939;41:420-4. Google Scholar4. Kamangar F, Chow WH, Abnet CC, Dawsey SM. Environmental causes of esophageal cancer. Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2009;38:27-57, vii. [PMID: 19327566] doi:10.1016/j.gtc.2009.01.004 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Tran GD, Sun XD, Abnet CC, Fan JH, Dawsey SM, Dong ZW, et al. Prospective study of risk factors for esophageal and gastric cancers in the Linxian general population trial cohort in China. Int J Cancer. 2005;113:456-63. [PMID: 15455378] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Andrici J, Eslick GD. Hot food and beverage consumption and the risk of esophageal cancer: a meta-analysis. Am J Prev Med. 2015;49:952-60. [PMID: 26590941] doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.07.023 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Islami F, Pourshams A, Nasrollahzadeh D, Kamangar F, Fahimi S, Shakeri R, et al. Tea drinking habits and oesophageal cancer in a high risk area in northern Iran: population based case-control study. BMJ. 2009;338:b929. [PMID: 19325180] doi:10.1136/bmj.b929 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Rapozo DC, Blanco TC, Reis BB, Gonzaga IM, Valverde P, Canetti C, et al. Recurrent acute thermal lesion induces esophageal hyperproliferative premalignant lesions in mice esophagus. Exp Mol Pathol. 2016;100:325-31. [PMID: 26899552] doi:10.1016/j.yexmp.2016.02.005 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Lee HS, O'Mahony M. At what temperatures do consumers like to drink coffee?: Mixing methods. J Food Sci. 2002;67:2774-7. CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. Guallar E, Blasco-Colmenares E, Arking DE, Zhao D. Moderate coffee intake can be part of a healthy diet. Ann Intern Med. 2017;167:283-284. [PMID: 28693039]. doi:10.7326/M17-1503 LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (F.K.)National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (N.D.F.)Disclosures: Authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M17-3370.Corresponding Author: Neal D. Freedman, PhD, MPH, Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 6E432, Bethesda, MD 20892; e-mail, [email protected]nih.gov.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Kamangar: Department of Biology, School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, Morgan State University, 1700 East Cold Spring Lane, Portage Campus, Room 103, Baltimore, MD 21251.Dr. Freedman: Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Room 6E432, Bethesda, MD 20892.This article was published at Annals.org on 6 February 2018. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoHot Tea Consumption and Its Interactions With Alcohol and Tobacco Use on the Risk for Esophageal Cancer Canqing Yu , Haijing Tang , Yu Guo , Zheng Bian , Ling Yang , Yiping Chen , Aiyu Tang , Xue Zhou , Xu Yang , Junshi Chen , Zhengming Chen , Jun Lv , Liming Li , and Metrics Cited byRisk factors for oesophageal cancer 3 April 2018Volume 168, Issue 7Page: 519-520KeywordsAlcoholsBeveragesCancer epidemiologyCoffeeEpidemiologyEpithelial cellsProspective studiesTeaTemperature ePublished: 6 February 2018 Issue Published: 3 April 2018 PDF downloadLoading ...