UK Pooled Analysis Links Very Hot Beverages to 3.2-Fold Rise in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
A pooled UK cohort of one million adults found very hot beverage preference tripled squamous cell carcinoma risk independent of volume. The temperature association was histology-specific and additive to smoking and alcohol. Evidence quality is high for observational data but requires confirmation with measured temperatures and mechanistic endpoints.
Public-health messaging should therefore emphasize letting drinks cool to below 60 °C and limiting volume, while continuing to target smoking and heavy alcohol use as dominant modifiable risks. Next steps include objective temperature sensors in cohort studies and randomized trials of cooling interventions on intermediate biomarkers of esophageal injury.
By 2028, at least two major cancer-prevention guidelines will adopt an explicit upper temperature limit of 60 °C for routine hot-drink consumption.
Sources (3)
- [1]Primary Source(https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.35234)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(16)30239-9/fulltext)
- [3]Supporting Source(https://monographs.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mono116.pdf)