A prospective study of coffee and tea consumption and the risk of glioma in the UK Biobank

Abstract Background Coffee and tea have been hypothesised to reduce the risk of some cancers; however, their impact on glioma is less well studied. Methods We examined associations between self-reported intake of tea and coffee in relation to glioma risk in the UK Biobank. We identified 487 incident glioma cases among 379,259 participants. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for glioma according to caffeinated beverage consumption were calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression with adjustment for age, gender, race and education; daily cups of tea or coffee were included in models considering the other beverage. Results Consuming 4 or more cups of tea was associated with reduced risk of glioma when compared to no tea consumption (HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.51–0.94). A significant inverse association was observed for glioblastoma (HR = 0.93 per 1 cup/d increment; 95% CI, 0.89–0.98) and among males for all gliomas combined (HR = 0.95 per 1 cup/d increment; 95% CI, 0.90–1.00). A suggestive inverse association was also observed with greater consumption of coffee (HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.49–1.05 for >4 versus 0 cups/d). Results were not materially changed with further adjustment for smoking, alcohol and body mass index. Associations were similar in 2-year and 3-year lagged analyses. Conclusions In this prospective study, we found a significant inverse association between tea consumption and the risk of developing glioma, and a suggestive inverse association for the consumption of coffee. Further investigation on the possible preventive role of caffeine in glioma is warranted.