Drinking tea increases risk of throat cancer

Drinking hot tea can increase the risk of throat cancer, claim health experts.

Research published on BMJ online suggests drinking tea at 70°C or over can increase the risk of cancer of the oesophagus.

Scientists looked at the tea drinking habits of 300 people diagnosed with oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and a matched group of 571 healthy controls from the same area.

Compared with drinking warm or lukewarm tea (65°C or less), hotter cups (65-69°C) were associated with twice the risk of oesophageal cancer. Consuming very hot tea (70°C or more) was associated with an eight-fold increased risk.

The results provide persuasive evidence that drinking tea at temperatures greater than 70°C markedly increases the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, David Whiteman from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research added in an accompanying editorial.

Experts claim the report also lends support to the notion that thermal injury may be a cause of epithelial cancers. The authors add the way in which heat promotes tumour development is not clear and warrants further investigation.