Caffeine Protects Against Skin Cancer

Author: Joe Fowler Time for reading: ~1 minutes Last Updated: August 08, 2022

Women who drink coffee regularly have an 18% lower risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer. In men, the risk is 13% lower.

Regular coffee consumption helps prevent the most common type of skin cancer, scientists have found.

According to a new study, women who drink coffee every day have an 18% lower risk of developing basal cell carcinoma than women who drink less than one cup a month.

Men also benefit from the protective effect of the caffeinated beverage. Coffee lovers have a 13% lower risk of this type of skin cancer.

Because decaffeinated coffee does not show such benefits, researchers believe that caffeine is the key ingredient that protects against cancer.

This is the first large, prospective study to look at the effect of coffee drinking on the development of three different types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer.

The study followed more than 110,000 people for more than 20 years. During this period, 25,480 cases of skin cancer were reported, including 22,786 cases of basal cell carcinoma, 1,953 of squamous cell carcinoma, and 741 melanomas.

The results show that the amount of caffeinated coffee consumed is associated with a reduced risk of basal cell carcinoma, but not of other skin cancers. "The biology of these cancers is different, and that may explain why caffeine has a protective effect against certain types of skin cancer," explains Dr. Alan Connie of New Jersey State University.

According to scientists, caffeine helps prevent skin cancer by "killing" pre-cancerous cells damaged by sunlight, as a result of which they are in the process of dividing. "These cells need to be eliminated and caffeine helps eliminate them," adds Dr. Alan Connie.

The study was presented during a meeting of the American Academy of Cancer Research in Boston.

Caffeine Protects Against Skin Cancer

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