Association of tea and coffee consumption and biliary tract cancer risk: The biliary tract cancers pooling project
Yu-Han Huang, Erikka Loftfield, Ilona Argirion, Hans-Olov Adami, Demetrius Albanes, Andrew T. Chan, Veronika Fedirko, Gary E. Fraser, Neal D. Freedman, Graham G. Giles, Patricia Hartge, Verena Katzke, Synnove F. Knutsen, James Lacey, Linda M. Liao, Juhua Luo, Roger L. Milne, Katie M. O’Brien, Ulrike Peters, Jenny N. Poynter, Mark P. Purdue, Kim Robien, Sven Sandin, Dale P. Sandler, Veronica W Setiawan, Jae H Kang, Tracey G. Simon, Rashmi Sinha, Trang VoPham, Stephanie J. Weinstein, Emily White, Xuehong Zhang, Bin Zhu, Katherine A. McGlynn, Peter T. Campbell, Mei-Hsuan Lee, Jill Koshiol- Hepatology
Background and aims:
Tea and coffee are widely consumed beverages worldwide. We evaluated their association with biliary tract cancer (BTC) incidence.
Methods:
We pooled data from 15 studies in the Biliary Tract Cancers Pooling Project to evaluate associations between tea and coffee consumption and BTC development. We categorized participants as non-drinkers (0 cup/day), moderate drinkers (>0 and <3 cups/day), and heavy drinkers (≥3 cups/day). We estimated multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using Cox models.
Results:
During 29,911,744 person-years of follow-up, 851 gallbladder (GBC), 588 intrahepatic bile duct (IHBDC), 753 extrahepatic bile duct (EHBDC), and 458 ampulla of Vater (AVC) cancer cases were diagnosed. Individuals who drank tea showed a statistically significantly lower incidence rate of GBC relative to tea non-drinkers (HR=0.77; 95% CI, 0.64-0.91), and IHBDC had an inverse association (HR=0.81; 95% CI, 0.66-1.00). However, no associations were observed for EHBDC or AVC. In contrast, coffee consumption was positively associated with GBC, with a higher incidence rate for individuals consuming more coffee (HR<3 cups/day =1.29; 95% CI, 1.01-1.66; HR≥3 cups/day =1.49; 95% CI, 1.11-1.99, P trend =0.01) relative to coffee non-drinkers. However, there was no association between coffee consumption and GBC when restricted to coffee drinkers. There was little evidence of associations between coffee consumption and other BTCs.
Conclusion:
Tea consumption was associated with a lower incidence of GBC and possibly IHBDC. Further research is warranted to replicate the observed positive association between coffee and GBC.