Esophageal Cancer Risk: The Truth About Hot Drinks Like Coffee and Tea
t seems that almost every dietary habit has at some point been linked to an increased risk of cancer. In recent years, the idea has emerged that drinking very hot beverages like coffee and tea could contribute to esophageal cancer.
We spoke with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist and gastroenterologist Smita Joshi, who cares for people at MSK Monmouth, to learn what is actually known about the topic from research and whether we should be worried about drinking hot beverages.
What gave rise to the idea that hot drinks could increase esophageal cancer risk?
This idea is not new. It goes back to at least the 1930s. The theory has been that hot liquids such as coffee or tea could destroy the inner lining of the esophagus, requiring the cells to continually regenerate. During this process, there is a greater chance that something can go wrong and turn normal cells into cancer cells. A long time ago, animal studies suggested that very, very hot beverages could cause this damage. But this was at higher temperatures than people would usually drink liquids.
More recently, the connection was suggested in a 2016 statement from the World Health Organization (WHO), a study from China published in 2018, and a study from Iran published in 2019.
