Drinking coffee can improve survival in metastatic colorectal cancer patients
Among the large group of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, consumption of a few cups of coffee a day was associated with longer survival and a lower risk of cancer worsening, as per findings of the latest study. The study was led by researchers at Dana-Faber Cancer Institute and other organisations. The findings, based on data from a large observational study nested in a clinical trial, are in line with earlier studies showing a connection between regular coffee consumption and improved outcomes in patients with non-metastatic colorectal cancer. The study is being published today by JAMA Oncology. The investigators found that in 1,171 patients treated for metastatic colorectal cancer, those who reported drinking 2 to 3 cups of coffee a day were likely to live longer overall, and had a long time before their disease worsened, than those who didn’t drink coffee. Participants who drank large amounts of coffee—more than 4 cups a day- had an even greater benefit in these measures. The benefits held for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee. The findings enabled investigators to establish an association, but not a cause-and-effect relationship, between coffee drinking and reduced risk of cancer progression and death among study participants. As a result, the study does not provide sufficient grounds for recommending, at this point, that people with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer start drinking coffee on a daily basis or increase their consumption of the drink, researchers say. The new study drew on data from the Alliance/ SWOG 80405 study, a phase lll clinical trial comparing the addition of the drugs cetuximab and / or bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy in patients with previously untreated, locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.