Coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer recurrence and all-cause mortality

Coffee consumption has been associated with a reduced risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). However, it is not clear whether coffee consumption is related to CRC progression. Hence, we assessed the association of coffee consumption with CRC recurrence and all-cause mortality using data from a prospective cohort study of 1719 stage I–III CRC patients in the Netherlands. Coffee consumption and other lifestyle characteristics were self-reported using questionnaires at the time of diagnosis. We retrieved recurrence and all-cause mortality data from the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Personal Records Database, respectively. Cox proportional hazard regression models with and without restricted cubic splines were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age, sex, education, smoking status, cancer stage and tumor location. We observed 257 recurrences during a 6.2-year median follow-up and 309 deaths during a 6.6-year median follow-up. Consuming more than 4 cups/d of coffee compared to an intake of <2 cups/d was associated with a 32% lower risk of CRC recurrence (95% CI: 0.49, 0.94,). The association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality was U-shaped; coffee intake seemed optimal at 3–5 cups/d with the lowest risk at 4 cups/d (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.88).
Our results suggest that coffee consumption may be associated with a lower risk of CRC recurrence and all-cause mortality. The association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality appeared nonlinear. More studies are needed to understand the mechanism by which coffee consumption might improve CRC prognosis.