Drinking Coffee May Reduce the Incidence of Skin Cancer

   Caffeine in Coffee Lessens

     the Risk of  Skin Cancer

Evelyn  E. Smith

M. S. in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)

Research Links Coffee with Reduced Skin Cancer Rates

Researchers theorize that the more coffee an individual drinks, the lower his or her risk of basal cell carcinoma after controlling for other risks factors like sun exposure and skin pigment. Similarly, the caffeine in coffee acts as a barrier against UVB (short wave) rays just as lots of coffee drinking reduces or delays the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.  However, the optimal dosage is three or more cups of regular coffee daily, for drinking only a cup daily produced only a minimal therapeutic effect.   But that doesn't mean that sun-worshiping coffee-lovers can use tanning booths without any guilt or go out in the sun without sunscreen. Moreover, drinking four or more cups daily only provides a minimal amount of protection in older adults when compared with their counterparts who don't drink any coffee.

Bottom Line:  Drinking coffee isn't a cure all for preventing skin cancer, but it does provide more protection than abstaining from drinking any coffee. Furthermore, scientific research studies should always be studied in their historical context.

Abel, E. L., Hendrix, S. O, & McNeeley, S. G. (2007 October). Daily coffee consumption and prevalence of nonmelanoma skin cancer in Caucasian women. European Journal of Cancer Prevention, 446-52. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17923816

Researchers from the Department of Obstretrics and Gynecology at Wayne State University after conducting a cross-sectional analysis of Caucasian women enrolled in a Women's Health Initiative Observational Study found that when compared with those white women who abstained from drinking coffee, those who self-reported that they drank coffee daily showed a 10.8 lower incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer. Moreover, drinking six or more cups of coffee daily reduced the chances of developing nonmelanoma skin cancer 30 percent after adjusted by demographic and life-style variables.  

Conney, A. H., Lu, Y. P., & Lou, Y. R., et al. (2013, June 17). Mechanisms of Caffeine-Induced Inhibition of UVB Carcinogenesis. Frontiers in Oncology, 3: 144. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2013.00144. ECollection 2013. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23785666

The caffeine in coffee inhibits ATR and UVB-induced carcinogenesis, according to studies conducted on UVB-induced skin cancer in mice and epidemiological studies that show that coffee drinking inhibits non-melanoma skin cancer in humans. Apparently, caffeine produces a sunscreen that inhibits sunburn lesions in the epidermis, or the outer layer of skin, in mice as well as the UVB-induced formation of thymine dimers, or chemically-bonded, adjacent thymine bases in DNA.  [When cancerous cells start to repair themselves, thymine dimers produce malignant cell mutations]. In addition, caffeine raises the rate of cell death, or apoptosis, in tumors, and enhances UVB-induced cell apoptosis, thereby increasing the removal of damaged precancerous cells.

Transgenic mice irradiated chronically with UVB had 69 percent fewer tumors at the end of the study when administered caffeine that inhibited ATR when compared with irradiated controls with normal ATR function.

Ferrucci, L. M. Cartmel, B., & Molinaro, A. M., et al. (2014, July 23). Tea, coffee, and caffeine and early-onset basal cell carcinoma in a case-control study. European Journal of Cancer Prevention. 4, 296-302. doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0000000000000037. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24841641

A Yale University study has found that “combined regular consumption of caffeinated coffee and hot tea is inversely associated with the early onset of basal cell carcinoma.” In other words, those study participants who drank the most caffeinated coffee and hot tea reduced their risk of developing basal cell carcinoma 43 percent when compared with individuals who don't drink coffee and tea. After evaluating data from 767 non-Hispanic whites under age 30, this case-control study randomly samples individuals in Yale's dermato-pathology database for benign skin diagnoses and frequency matched to cases for age, sex, and biopsy data whereupon study participants completed an in person interview assessing their intake of coffee and hot tea. Researchers theorize that the caffeine in the coffee and hot tea may produce this protective effect.

Fortes, C., Mastroeni, S., & Boffetta, P., et al. (2013, October 24). The protective effect of coffee consumption on cutaneous melanoma risk and the role of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms. Cancer, Causes & Control: CCC. 10, 1779-87. doi: 10.1007/s10552-013-0255-4. Epub 2013 Jul 17. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23860951

A case-control study that took place within the inpatient wards of the IDI-San Carlo in Rome, Italy, examined 304 cases of cutaneous melanoma and 305 controls, collecting information of their socio-demographic characteristics, medical history, smoking habits, amount of sun exposure, skin pigment, and diets. Researchers found that drinking a cup of coffee at least once daily compared with drinking coffee less than five times weekly produced a small “protective effect that guarded against cutaneous melanoma (OR 0.46; 95 % CI 0.31-0.68) after taking into consideration the individual's gender, age, education, hair color, birthmarks, skin phototype, and sunburn episodes in childhood.

Kang, N. J., Lee, K. W., & Shin, B. J., et al. Caffeic acid, a phenolic phytochemical in coffee, directly inhibits Fyn kinase activity and UVB-induced COX-2 expression. (2009, February). Carcinogenenesis, 30(2), 321-30. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgn282. Epub 2008 Dec 10. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19073879

Researchers at the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota note that in-vivo data from mice epideral skin supports the hypothesis that caffeic acid suppresses UVB-induced COX-2 expression by blocking Fyn kinase activity. Fyn, a non-receptor protein ember of the tyrosine kinase family, is necessary for ultraviolet (UV B-induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2 expression.  However, caffeic acid checks UVB-induced skin carcinogenesis by directly blocking Fyn kinase activity.

Loftfield, Erikka, Freedman, Neal D., & Graubard, Barry L. (2015, January 13). Coffee drinking and cutaneous melanoma risk in the HIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 107(2). doi: 10.1093/jnci/dju421. [Full text]. Retrieved from http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/2/dju421.full

In a decade-long study of 447,357 non-Hispanic whites, high coffee intake of four or more cups of coffee daily correlates with a modest decrease in the risk of melanoma when researchers who compared study participants  who drank large amounts of coffee with non coffee-drinkers (≥4 cups/day: HR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.64 to 0.89, P _trend = .01), but they didn't find a link between drinking decaffeinated coffee and a reduced risk of skin cancer (Loftfield, 2014, November 25, para. 1-4).

Lu, Y. P., Lou, Y. R., & Peng, Q. Y., et al. (2011, July). Caffeine decreases phospho-Chk1 (Ser317) and increases mitotic cells with cyclin B1 and caspase 3 in tumors from UVB-treated mice. Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia, Pa.), 4(7), 1118-25. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-11-0116. Epub 2011 Apr 19. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21505179

Giving mice doses of caffeine significantly impairs phospho-Chk1 (Ser317) staining and an increased the number of mitotic cells that develop cyclin B1 and caspase 3 in tumors that are consistent with selectively-produced, lethal mitosis in tumors. Researchers hypothesize that caffeine can induce selective cell death, or apoptosis, in UVB tumors by inhibiting ATR/Chk1 pathways, thus promoting lethal mitosis. Therefore, caffeinated coffee and tea intake correlates with a decreased incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer.

Miura, K., Hughes, M. C., & Green, A.C. (2014). Caffeine intake and risk of basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas of the skin in an 11-year prospective study. European Journal of Nutrition, 53(2), 511-20. doi: 10.1007/s00394-013-0556-0. Epub 2013 Jul 4. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23824258

Researchers found no link between total caffeine intake and the incidence of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in a study that assessed the consumption of coffee in 1992, 1994, and 1996 in 1,325 randomly selected adult living in a subtropical Australian community.  However, individuals who had had prior skin cancers experienced a 25 percent lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma if they drank four cups of coffee daily. Thus, a “relatively high” intake of caffeine may reduce the development of basal cell carcinoma in those individuals who have previously been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Song, F., Qureshi, A. A., & Han, J. (2012, July 1). Increased caffeine intake is associated with reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma of the skin. Cancer Research, 72(13), 3282-9. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22752299

Using data from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study, Harvard  University researchers examined the risks after analyzing 22,786 cases of basal cell carcinoma, 1,953 cases of squamous cell carcinoma , and 741 cases of melanoma  in relation to caffeine intake. The highest quintile of coffee drinkers in both men and women had the lowest risk of developing skin cancer (RR, 0.82 in women; 95% CI:,0.77-0.86 and RR, 0.87 in men; 95% CI, 0.81-0.94; Ptrend<0.0001 in both).

Women who drank more than three cups of coffee daily experienced the lowest risk when compared with women who drank less than one cup of coffee a month. Other sources of caffeine in tea, cola, and coffee as well as decaffeinated coffee also lowered the risk of developing basal cell carcinoma.

Yang, G., Fu, Y. & Malakhova, M., et al. (2014, October 7). Caffeic acid directly targets ERK1/2 to attenuate solar UV-induced skin carcinogenesis. Cancer Prevention Research. 10, 1056-66. doi:10.1158/1940-6207. [Abstract only]. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25104643

The Caffeic acid (3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) found in coffee “significantly inhibits colony formation of human skin cancer cells and EGF-induced neoplastic transformation of HaCaT cells dose-dependently.” Even though researchers as yet don't understand why topical application of caffeic acid reduces tumors, after they induced skin carcinogeneisis in mice, treating skin topically with caffeic acid great suppressed the occurrence and volume of tumors.

A case-control study that took place within the inpatient wards of the IDI-San Carlo in Rome, Italy, examined 304 cases of cutaneous melanoma and 305 controls, collecting information about their socio-demographic characteristics, medical history, smoking habits, amount of sun exposure, skin pigment, and diets. Researchers found that drinking a cup of coffee at least once daily compared with drinking coffee less than five times weekly produced a small “protective effect that guarded against cutaneous melanoma (OR 0.46; 95 % CI 0.31-0.68) after taking into consideration the individual's gender, age, education, hair color, birthmarks, skin phototype, and sunburn episodes in childhood.

              Popular Articles Tout Coffee 

           Caffeine's Suppression of Cancer

Staying out of the sun is a more effective means of preventing 

skin cancer than drinking lots of coffee.

Drinking four cups of coffee daily might lower the risk of melanoma 20 percent, according to a just released National Cancer Institute/AARP study, but as the Prevention Magazine warns, it also increases the production of cortisol that might lead to heart disease. That means that older adults should be able to enjoy three cups of coffee a day, which also might protect or delay Alzheimer's disease, but they shouldn't overdo their coffee drinking. The Loftfield study also contradicts a much-cited 2012 Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University study that found that drinking three cups of coffee daily, particularly on sunny days, destroys precancerous cells that might develop into basal cell carcinoma, but it doesn't suppress squamous cell carcinomas or melanomas. All researchers, however emphasize that drinking lots of coffee doesn't mean that sunbathers should go out in the sun without applying sunscreen and wearing protective clothing.

Bakalar, Nicholas. (2015, January 22). Coffee may cut melanoma risk. Well. New York Times. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/22/coffee-may-cut-melanoma-risk/?_r=0

A ten-year study conducted by the National Cancer Institute links drinking four or more cups of coffee daily with a 20 percent reduction in risk for developing melanoma in non-Hispanic whites aged 50 to 71 when compared with their counterparts who don't drink any coffee (Bakalar, 2015, January 22, para. 1-3). 

All the same, the study's lead researcher, Erikka Loftfield, a graduate student at the Yale School of Public Health, cautions that the best way individuals can still reduce their reduce the risk of skin cancer is to stay out of the sun and avoid ultra violet light exposure (Bakalar, 2015 January 22, para. 4). The study controlled for age, gender, education, smoking, physical activity, and alcohol consumption, but it didn't control for possible “unknown variables” that might influence this connection (Bakalr, 205, January 22, para. 5).

Park, Alice. (2015, January 20). This drink could protect you from skin cancer. Health/Cancer. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/3675152/this-drink-could-protect-you-from-skin-cancer/

A National Institute of Health/AARP study released Tuesday, January 13, 2015, theorizes that drinking more than four cups of coffee daily lowers the  chance of developing melanoma 20 percent [compared to those who abstain entirely from coffee] (Park, 2015, January 20, para. 3). Erikka Loftfield and her fellow researchers surveyed 447,000 individuals [aged 51 to 71] who answered a 124-item food questionnaire and also allowed  researchers to access their medical records. The researchers then adjusted their findings to allow for such adverse effects as age, smoking, alcohol use, a family history of cancer, but these factors couldn't break the link between heavy coffee drinking and a lower risk of melanoma (Park, 2015, January 20, para. 4).


Loftfield explained that coffee's roasting process releases vitamin derivative that protect against UV damage, so the caffeine in coffee possibly acts as a molecular sunscreen that absorbs UV rays. Loftfield, however,cautioned that other researchers will need to repeat the study to confirm its results (Park, 2015, January 20, para. 6).


Taylor, Marygrace. (2015). 4 cups of coffee could lower your skin cancer risk 20 %. Preventon News. Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.prevention.com/food/food-remedies/coffee-lowers-skin-cancer-risk-20

Drinking lots of coffee may lower the risk of melanoma, according to new researched released by the National Cancer Institute, whose researchers tracked the coffee-drinking habits and skin cancer rates of “nearly 450,000 older adults for over 10 years, finding that that study participants who drank four cups of caffeinated coffee daily had a 20 percent lower risk of developing cancer. Taylor explains that the caffeine and polyphenols in coffee block ultra-violet induced tumors wile the coffee-roasting process might serve as a molecular sunscreen ( 2014, para. 1-3).

Indulging in four cups of coffee daily, however, can increase the production of cortisol, which, in turn, causes weight gain, digestive problems, and heart disease as well as anxiety, irritability, and headaches.   Accordingly, Taylor counsels readers to drink only two cups of coffee daily as well as to read a 12-ounce glass of water both before and afterward to protect against caffeine's dehydrating effect (Taylor, 2014, para. 3-4)
.

Walton, Alice G. (2015, January 23). Study: Coffee may reduce risk of melanoma. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2015/01/23/can-coffee-reduce-the-risk-of-skin-cancer/

Drinking four or more cups of coffee daily may reduce the risk of melanoma--the leading cause of skin cancer death. Previous research shows that compounds in coffee have lessened the risk of skin cancer in lab mice, but in human studies other variables may determine the individual's chances of developing melanoma (Walton, 2015, January 23, para. 1-2).

National Cancer Institute researchers discovered that the risk of malignant melanoma fell 20 percent if study participants drank four cups of coffee daily while they were looking for a connection between diet and skin cancer in a sample size of 447,000 cancer-free, older adults at a beginning of a ten-year longitudinal study in which 2,900 senior adults developed malignant melanoma, and 1,900 developed melanoma (Walton, 2015, January 23, para. 1-2).

Previous studies of lab mice and skin cell cultures has shown that compounds in coffee affect molecular pathways that cut the risk of UV-related skin cancer by reducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and DNA damage in cells (Walton, 2015, January 23, para. 5).   Researchers, nevertheless, admit that earlier longitudinal studies of human populations have produced less convincing results, for example, one study [Song, Qureshi, & Han, et al, 2012] found that drinking coffee reduced the risk of skin cancer in women, but not in men (Walton, 2015, January 23, para. 6).

Then again, a Mayo Clinic study has determined that adults under the age of 55 who drank four or more cups of coffee daily had an increased mortality rate.

See:

Nelson, Jennifer K. & Zeratsky, Katherine. (2013, September 11). Heavy coffee consumption—risky in younger adults. Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/coffee-and-young-adults/BGP-20056124

Men under age 55 who drink more than 28 cups of coffee weekly or average drinking four cups a day may increase their risk of premature death (Nelson, 2013, September 11, para. 2). The report, however, doesn't account for dietary or socioeconomic variables, although it does consider smoking, exercise and chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure (Nelson, 2013, September 11, para. 3).

Even so, heavy coffee drinker might need to reassess their lifestyle choices to determine if their drinking large quantities of coffee compensates for not enough sleep, if the sugar they add to their coffee causes weight gain, and if they substitute coffee breaks for healthy meals and snacks (Nelson, 2013, September 11, para. 4).

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Warner, Jennifer. (2011, October 24). Coffee fights common skin cancer: Coffee drinkers less likely to develop most common types of skin cancer. Melanoma/Skin Cancer Health Center. Web MD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/melanoma-skin-cancer/news/20111024/coffee-fights-common-skin-cancer?page=1


According to a Brigham and Women Hospital and Harvard University Medical study [Song, Qureshi, & Han, 2012), women who drink more than three cups of coffee daily lower their risk of basal cell carcinoma 20 percent more than those women who drank coffee less than once a month while men who drank more than three cups of coffee daily were 9 percent less likely to develop basal cell carcinoma cancer (Warner, 2011, October 24, para. 2-3). But drinking decaffeinated coffee didn't reduce skin cancer at all, a finding that led researchers to speculate that caffeine is the primary ingredient in coffee that reduces skin cancer (Warner, 2011, October 24, para. 4). All the same, researchers suggested that avoiding a sunburn is a better way to reduce the risk of skin cancer (Warner, 2011, October 24, para. 7).

Caffeine Cuts Skin Cancer Risk

Researchers claim that their look at more than 110,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study and a Health Professionals' Follow-Up made up the first “large, prospective study” to analyze the effect of coffee drinking on basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma, although they admit that previous studies hint that drinking coffee might prevent non-melanoma skin cancer (Warner, 2011, October 24, para. 8-11).

Researchers followed their study's participants for 22 to 24 years, during which time, participants reported 22,786 cases of basal cell carcinoma, 1,953 incidences of squamous cell carcinomas, and 741 melanomas whereupon researchers concluded that drinking coffee decreased the risk of developing basal cell carcinoma compared to participants who abstained from coffee, but the caffeine in coffee didn't effect other types of cancer. Women who drank the most coffee lowers their risk of developing basal cell carcinoma 18 percent, and coffee guzzling men lowered their risk nine percent (Warner, 2011, para. 12-14).

Coffee Better Than the Beach

These results, however, surprised Allan Conney, the Director of the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory, who had expected to see coffee lower the risk of developing squamous cell carcinomas that animal models had predicted (Warner, 2011, para. 15). Paul Nghiem, an associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, theorizes that the caffeine in coffee prevents basal cell carcinoma by killing a small number of precancerous cell damaged by sunlight particularly on a day when someone exposes him or herself to lots of UV-rays, so the cumulative effects of coffee drinking simply don't count. Accordingly, Nghiem is looking into the possibility of adding caffeine to sunscreen (Warner, 2011, para 16-20).

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