SynthesisBMC cancer2018
Comparative oesophageal cancer risk assessment of hot beverage consumption (coffee, mate and tea): the margin of exposure of PAH vs very hot temperatures.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hot Tea Consumption and Esophageal Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Cultural carcinogens in oral squamous cell carcinoma risk across global populations.Oncoscience · 2026Review
- Evaluation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Content and Risk Assessment of Tea Products in South Korea.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Timing and dose matter: a diurnal pattern of coffee consumption optimises improvement in insulin resistance.Archives of medical science : AMS · 2025Article
- Review
- Dietary Temperature's Influence on Energy Balance in Humans: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial and Crossover Design.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Thermal stress involved in TRPV2 promotes tumorigenesis through the pathways of HSP70/27 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.British journal of cancer · 2022Article
- Fractionated extraction of polyphenols from mate tea leaves using a combination of hydrophobic/ hydrophilic NADES.Current research in food science · 2022Article
- Article
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in yerba mate (Toxicology reports · 2021Article
- Serving Temperatures of Best-Selling Coffees in Two Segments of the Brazilian Food Service Industry Are "Very Hot".Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Influence of the Brewing Temperature on the Taste of Espresso.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- A prospective study of tea drinking temperature and risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.International journal of cancer · 2020Article
- Oolong tea consumption and its interactions with a novel composite index on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2019Article
- Investigating tea temperature and content as risk factors for esophageal cancer in an endemic region of Western Kenya: Validation of a questionnaire and analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content.Cancer epidemiology · 2019Article
- Inhibitory Effects of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate on Esophageal Cancer.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2019Review
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as a potential source of carcinogenicity of mate.Journal of environmental science and health. Part C, Environmental carcinogenesis & ecotoxicology reviews · 2019Review
- What Temperature of Coffee Exceeds the Pain Threshold? Pilot Study of a Sensory Analysis Method as Basis for Cancer Risk Assessment.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
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 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConsumption of very hot (> 65 °C) beverages is probably associated with increased risk of oesophageal cancer. First associations were reported for yerba mate and it was initially believed that high content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) might explain the risk. Later research on other beverage groups such as tea and coffee, which are also consumed very hot, found associations with increased risk of oesophageal cancer as well. The risk may therefore not be inherent in any compound contained in mate, but due to temperature. The aim of this study was to quantitatively assess the risk of PAH in comparison with the risk of the temperature effect using the margin of exposure (MOE) methodology.
methodsThe human dietary benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and PAH4 (sum of benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, and benzo[b]fluoranthene) exposure through consumption of coffee, mate, and tea was estimated. The oesophageal cancer risk assessment for both PAH and temperature was conducted using the MOE approach.
resultsConsidering differences in the transfer of the PAH from the leaves of mate and tea or from the ground coffee to the infusion, and considering the different preparation methods, exposures may vary considerably. The average individual exposure in μg/kg bw/day arising from consumption of 1 cup (0.2 L) of infusion was highest for mate (2.85E-04 BaP and 7.22E-04 PAH4). The average per capita exposure in μg/kg bw/day was as follows: coffee (4.21E-04 BaP, 4.15E-03 PAH4), mate (4.26E-03 BaP, 2.45E-02 PAH4), and tea (8.03E-04 BaP, 4.98E-03 PAH4). For all individual and population-based exposure scenarios, the average MOE for BaP and PAH4 was > 100,000 independent of beverage type. MOE values in this magnitude are considered as a very low risk. On the contrary, the MOE for the temperature effect was estimated as < 1 for very hot drinking temperatures, corroborating epidemiological observations about a probable oesophageal cancer risk caused by this behaviour.
conclusionsThe temperature effect but not PAH exposure may pose an oesophageal cancer risk. Consumer education on risks associated with consumption of 'very hot' beverages and policy measures to threshold serving temperatures should be discussed.
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Registered trials
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.