Slip, slop, slap, seek, slide… sip: Coffee and skin cancer

As a skin cancer risk protection strategy, there’s no substitute for reducing ultraviolet exposure with sunscreens, shade and protective clothing and eyewear. Some observational studies have reported lower skin cancer rates among coffee drinkers, but this does not establish coffee as a prevention treatment.

Coffee and melanoma

A study has shown that people who drank coffee regularly were less likely to develop melanoma, a potentially life-threatening form of skin cancer. Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2015¹, the study showed that:

• Over a period of ten years, white-skinned people aged 50 to 71 were 20% less likely to develop melanoma if they drank four cups of coffee per day compared with those who drank none.
• People who drank three cups of coffee daily were 10 per cent less likely to develop melanoma. This was an association; other differences between participants could contribute to the result.
• The risk reduction only applied for caffeinated coffee.
• Coffee drinkers’ risk of melanoma in situ (the earliest, least aggressive stage of melanoma) was not reduced.

Coffee and basal cell carcinoma

Other studies^{2, 3} have suggested that coffee could also decrease the risk of basal cell carcinoma, a less serious but more common form of skin cancer. Both of the studies showed that people who consumed three cups of coffee per day had a significantly lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma.

• This effect might be greater in women than men (in one study, there was a 20% reduction in risk for women vs. a nine per cent reduction for men).
• The risk reduction is greater if more coffee is consumed.
• The risk reduction applies for caffeinated coffee and for hot tea containing caffeine.

What this means

These observational findings do not show that drinking coffee causes a reduction in skin cancer risk, or establish a recommended number of cups. We do not advise increasing coffee or caffeine intake for skin cancer prevention. Continue sun protection and have concerning spots assessed.

References

1. Loftfield E, Freedman N, Graubard L et al 2015. Coffee drinking and cutaneous melanoma risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, volume 107, issue 2, 1 February 2015. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/dju421
2. Ferucci L, Cartmel B, Molinaro A et al 2014 Tea, coffee, and caffeine and early-onset basal cell carcinoma in a case-control study. European Journal of Cancer Prevention. 23(4):296–302, Jul 2014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4059399/
3. Song F, Qureshi A, Han J 2011 Abstract B106: Coffee consumption and the risk of skin cancer. Cancer Prev Res October 1 2011 (4) (10 Supplement) B106. https://aacrjournals.org/cancerpreventionresearch/article/4/10_Supplement/B106/28971/Abstract-B106-Coffee-consumption-and-the-risk-of