Josep M. Borràs
Scientific coordinator of the National Health System Cancer Strategy, director of the Catalan Oncology Plan and Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Barcelona
This meta-analysis is conducted to the highest quality standards and by recognized experts in the field, who have led the case-control studies analyzed in the study. The data increase the consistency of the observation of an inverse relationship between head and neck cancer risk and coffee consumption. In this sense, I believe that this observation is the most solid and it is for the main tumor sites, given the total sample of cases analyzed.
For me, the conclusions should stay here. I do not think it is advisable to drink coffee or tea to protect against this type of tumors, but clearly to say that there is no risk associated with this consumption and that consuming it may have some beneficial effect, but not to go further in the conclusion.
The study has the methodological problems of case-control studies, but the consistency of the results between the different studies shows a strong profile of support for the study's conclusion. The sample size is also an argument in favor.