SynthesisBMJ open2017
Coffee, including caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 178 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevention, surveillance, and early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma - a Brazilian multidisciplinary consensus.Arquivos brasileiros de cirurgia digestiva : ABCD = Brazilian archives of digestive surgery · 2026Guideline
- The Impact of Lockdowns on Caffeine Consumption: A Systematic Review of the Evidence.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- KASL clinical practice guidelines for management of chronic hepatitis B.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2022Guideline
- Effect of Postoperative Coffee Consumption on Postoperative Ileus after Abdominal Surgery: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Does coffee, tea and caffeine consumption reduce the risk of incident breast cancer? A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Public health nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Coffee consumption and risk of prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2021Pooled it
- KASL clinical practice guidelines for management of chronic hepatitis B.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2019Guideline
- Coffee consumption and health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2017Pooled it
- Trial
- The association between coffee consumption and esophageal cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current observational evidence.Journal of gastrointestinal oncology · 2026Article
- KASL clinical practice guidelines for management of chronic hepatitis B Endorsed by the East Asia Liver Alliance (EALA).Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2026Article
- Review
- Lean Metabolic-Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD): Pathophysiology, Diagnostic Challenges, Clinical Outcomes, and Management.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- A comprehensive review of gastrointestinal cancers: epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis, and therapeutic strategies.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Article
- Chemoprevention of hepatocellular carcinoma.Hepatology communications · 2025Review
- Pathogenesis and Clinical Management of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Associations between fruit and vegetable consumption and HCC occurrence in patients with cirrhosis.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology · 2025Article
- Coffee consumption, cancer, and healthy aging: epidemiological evidence and underlying mechanisms.GeroScience · 2025Review
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo examine the association between coffee, including caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and assess the influence of HCC aetiology and pre-existing liver disease.
designWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis. We calculated relative risks (RRs) of HCC according to caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption using a random-effects dose-response meta-analysis. We tested for modification of the effect estimate by HCC aetiology and pre-existing liver disease. We judged the quality of evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.
resultsWe found 18 cohorts, involving 2 272 642 participants and 2905 cases, and 8 case-control studies, involving 1825 cases and 4652 controls. An extra two cups per day of coffee was associated with a 35% reduction in the risk of HCC (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.72). The inverse association was weaker for cohorts (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.77), which were generally of higher quality than case-control studies (RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.69). There was evidence that the association was not significantly altered by stage of liver disease or the presence/absence of high alcohol consumption, high body mass index, type 2 diabetes mellitus, smoking, or hepatitis B and C viruses. An extra two cups of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee (2 and 3 cohort studies, respectively) were associated with reductions of 27% (RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.85) and 14% (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.00) in the risk of HCC. However, due to a lack of randomised controlled trials, potential publication bias and there being no accepted definition of coffee, the quality of evidence under the GRADE criteria was 'very low'.
conclusionsIncreased consumption of caffeinated coffee and, to a lesser extent, decaffeinated coffee are associated with reduced risk of HCC, including in pre-existing liver disease. These findings are important given the increasing incidence of HCC globally and its poor prognosis.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.