Can enjoying that steaming hot beverage increase your cancer risk? A new study has demonstrated that drinking beverages that are too hot could raise the risk of esophageal cancer. Read on for what you need to know.

New Study Finds Threefold Risk of Esophageal Cancer When Drinking Hot Beverages

Researchers from the UK’s University of Oxford are warning that there is new evidence to suggest that drinking very hot beverages could significantly increase the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The chances of being diagnosed with the common form of esophageal cancer are triple with regular intake of very hot coffee and tea.

The results of the study that looked at nearly one million people were published on Tuesday in the International Journal of Cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are approximately 604,000 new cases of esophageal cancer globally each year. There were 544,00 deaths attributed to this type of cancer in 2020. The leading health agency predicts that the number of global cases will jump by more than 50% by 2040.

The study participants came from two separate groups, the Million Women Study and UK Biobank. The middle-aged adults were asked questions regarding their hot drink consumption habits, asking them to indicate whether they preferred their beverages "very hot," "hot," or "warm." There was also an option to indicate that they did not consume hot drinks.

The participants were then asked to report how many hot drinks they consumed daily. The two options were “fewer than 6 hot drinks per day” or “6 or more hot drinks per day."

The results indicated that just under 50% of the participants reported consuming at least six hot drinks per day. Of that number, roughly 15% reported preferring their beverages very hot.

The risk of esophageal SCC increased as the drink temperature went up. Those who liked their beverages hot demonstrated almost twice the cancer risk of participants who said they liked their drinks warm. This risk was more than tripled for those who reported drinking their beverages very hot.

The results also found that the number of daily drinks matters. Drinking six or more hot drinks each day was connected to a 71% higher risk of esophageal SCC.

Lead study author Keren Papier, a senior nutritional epidemiologist at Oxford Population Health, noted that "This is the largest study to date, and it does really add to the evidence that drinking very hot and hot beverages could increase the risk of this type of cancer."

The results of the study are not particularly surprising to those who have been following the growing body of research about the connection between hot beverages and cancer. Prior evidence showed that hot liquids can damage the cells that line the esophagus, causing inflammation. Additionally, the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that drinking very hot beverages of 149 degrees Fahrenheit or higher was "probably carcinogenic" to humans.

One caveat is that the IARC studies were primarily conducted in Asia, the Middle East, and South America, places that have different drinking cultures. For example, people in the UK typically add milk to their hot beverage.

Is It Time to Panic?

Despite the alarming results, the study's authors note that the chance of being diagnosed with this type of cancer is still low. According to Cancer Research UK, esophageal cancer accounts for just 2% of all cancer cases in the UK. Esophageal cancer is even more rare in the U.S., making up just 1.1% of all new cancer cases, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Papier said that adding a bit of cool water or milk could help to cut this risk. Simply blowing on the beverage between sips can also bring the temperature down.

Although the findings of the UK study are certainly cause for concern, it is important to note that the research had some limitations. For example, the researchers were not able to use an exact temperature range of the drinks consumed by the study participants. In other words, one person's perception of what is very hot could be another person's perception that the drink was merely warm.

Physiologist Muy-Teck Teh, a professor of molecular oral oncology at the UK’s Queen Mary, University of London, warned that the fact that the perceived drink temperatures were self-reported and that people have varying sensitivities to heat, “the results should be interpreted as robust associations rather than causal proof.”

Lastly, keep in mind that smoking is still the most significant risk factor associated with esophageal cancer. This type of cancer is most common in Eastern Asia and Southern and Eastern Africa, areas of the world where indoor air pollution and alcohol consumption are also likely raising the risk.

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