Very hot tea or coffee may be linked to higher risk of esophageal cancer, study finds

A large study in the United Kingdom suggests a possible association between the temperature at which people consume hot beverages and a higher risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a type of esophageal cancer.

Researchers from the University of Oxford analyzed health information from nearly 980,000 adults in the UK. Participants who drank hot beverages were asked whether they usually consumed them “very hot,” “hot” or “warm.” Their health records were then followed for more than 10 years to determine whether they developed esophageal SCC.

The findings showed that, compared with people who drank their beverages warm, those who preferred them hot had nearly twice the risk of developing esophageal SCC, while those who drank them very hot had about three times the risk.

Dr. Keren Papier, who was involved in the research, said previous international evidence had linked very hot beverages to certain esophageal cancers, but it had been less clear whether the association also applied to the temperatures at which hot drinks are commonly consumed in Western populations.

The researchers emphasized that the potential risk was associated with the temperature of the beverage, not tea or coffee themselves. They also noted that esophageal SCC is relatively uncommon in the UK, with a lifetime risk of about 1%, meaning the increased risk occurs against a relatively low baseline.

The study did not measure the actual temperature of the drinks because of the large number of participants and the long follow-up period. Researchers also have not established the exact temperature at which the risk may increase in the UK. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies consumption of very hot beverages above 65°C (149°F) as “probably carcinogenic.”

The study was published in the International Journal of Cancer.