Coffee could help stave off liver cancer, study finds

INCREASING coffee consumption may help to prevent liver cancer, a new study suggests.

Researchers have found that people who drink more coffee are less likely to develop hepatocellular cancer (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer. Even decaffeinated coffee can have a protective effect, they found.

Experts from the University of Southampton and the University of Edinburgh found that compared with people who drank no coffee, those who drank one cup had a 20% lower risk of developing HCC, according to the study, published in the journal BMJ Open.

Those who consumed two cups had a 35% reduced risk and for those who drank five cups, the risk was halved. They even noted a protective effect for decaf, but added that this was “smaller and less certain than for caffeinated coffee”.