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“Metastatic colon cancer that has spread from its original location remains an incurable disease in most cases,” said study lead author Christopher Mackintosh, a fourth-year medical student at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Phoenix. (Also read: Study: The Most Perfect Sports Tennis, Can Increase Longevity)
Reported by Web MD, Mackintosh explained a number of lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise have also been linked to a long life span for those who suffer from this disease.
“Our study found that patients treated with chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer who drank coffee saw a longer period of time before their cancer progressed and before death,” he explained.
All study participants were part of a larger cancer treatment study conducted between 2005 and 2018. During that time, food and drink intake was recorded.
Researchers eventually found that the more coffee consumed, the greater the survival benefits. For example, Mackintosh noted that patients who consumed one cup of coffee per day tended to survive 30 months after diagnosis.
However, those who drank two or three cups per day survived for 32 months. Meanwhile, those who consumed four cups or more a day, survival increased to 39 months.
Researchers also found those who drank between two and three cups per day saw their disease status deteriorate more slowly than those who drank one cup or less. Likewise, disease progression slows down even more among patients who regularly drink four or more cups of coffee per day.
The protective benefit is held, regardless of whether the patient drinks caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee. The findings build on previous research that had identified a similar protective relationship between coffee and cancer progression among colon cancer patients whose disease did not spread. (Also read: Details of New Records and List of 2020 Emmy Awards Winners)
However, the researchers cautioned that although their study shows a link between coffee and better cancer outcomes, it does not prove that drinking coffee actually causes a reduced risk of death or slows colon cancer growth.
Mackintosh explicitly warns colon cancer patients against drastically increasing their coffee consumption just because of this study.
“If someone is a colorectal cancer patient and likes to drink coffee, they can continue to do so without fear of a worsening cancer prognosis. Of course, decisions like this should always be discussed on a case-by-case basis with one’s personal health care professional,” advises Mackintosh.
(tdy)
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