Dr. Kashif Shafique from the Institute of Health & Wellbeing at the University of Glasgow told the press, “We don't know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway.”
Interestingly enough, previous research has shown no significant relationship between prostate cancer and black tea while some amount of preventive effect has been shown by drinking green tea.
Published in the Journal of Nutrition and Cancer on June 14th 2012, analysis was made on data covering 6016 Scottish men aged between 21 and 75 years who were enrolled on the Midspan Collaborative study between 1970 and 1973 and they were followed up for the next 37 years.
The men had filled in questionnaires about their general health, smoking habits and their usual consumption of tea, coffee and alcohol and also underwent a screening exam.
On analysing the data, the researchers found a statistically significant link (P= 0.02) between tea drinking and overall risk of developing prostate cancer.
It has been found that men who drank the most tea (i.e. more than seven cups a day) were at a 50% higher risk than those who drank 0-3 cups per day.
Overall it was found that 6.4% of men who drank the most tea developed prostate cancer during the study period as compares to 4.6% of men who drank the least tea.
No link was found between tea drinking and low/high grade cancer incidence. Whether the cancer is more aggressive or not could not be correlated.
It was also found that heavy tea drinkers were more likely not to be overweight, non-alcoholic drinkers and have healthy cholesterol levels. In light of this, these differences were adjusted in the analysis however, the end result conveyed the same message - that those who drank more tea were at a greater risk of prostate cancer.
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| FUN FACT: After water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. |
However, the biggest limitation to this study was that the researchers did not take into consideration family history or any other dietary elements other than tea, coffee and alcohol intake. Therefore it is unclear if there are other factors which have increased the risk of prostate cancer in these heavy tea drinking men.
What comes to mind is the role of genetic factors which was ignored in this research exercise. As we all know genetic factors play an important role in cancer and at an average 10% of cancers are due to genetic factors. More specifically for prostate cancer, the proportion of risk in the genes is as high as 42%.
While increased prostate cancer risk in men may indeed be linked to heavy tea drinking as shown in this study, there are genetic components which cannot be ignored in order to be able to get the best clinical recommendation on lifestyle changes, nutrition, diet & overall wellness.
The MSS (Molecular Screening Service) Can 12 test by INFOVALLEY aims to provide light on this otherwise ignored genetic aspect for calculating the risk for predisposition to 12 types of cancer.
The bottom-line is, get yourself tested for any cancer predisposition and enjoy that deliciously smelling hot cup of tea responsibly.
References:
Infovalley. (2012). MSS Can 12. Available: http://infovalley.net.my/~infovall/infohaem%C2%AE-mss-can12%E2%84%A2. Last accessed 24/6/2012.Navigenics. (2012). Prostate Cancer. Available: http://www.navigenics.com/visitor/what_we_offer/conditions_we_cover/prostate_cancer/. Last accessed 24 June 2012.
"Tea Consumption and the Risk of Overall and Grade Specific Prostate Cancer: A Large Prospective Cohort Study of Scottish Men"; Kashif Shafique, Philip McLoone, Khaver Qureshi, Hing Leung, Carole Hart & David S. Morrison; Nutrition and Cancer published online 14 June 2012
By Utprabh Mohan, Marketing Executive
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