Does drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages increase cancer risk?

Caffeine - Questions and Answers ABOUT FOODS AND CANCER PREVENTION AND SURVIVAL

Caffeine

QUESTION: Does drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverages increase cancer risk?

ANSWER: Probably not. Interest in this topic persists because coffee is such
a popular beverage. In early 2006, a study suggested that coffee is responsible
for as much as one-third of daily consumption of the cancer-causing
chemical acrylamide, possibly as a result of the roasting of coffee beans.
Earlier studies linked coffee consumption to increased risks of bladder and
pancreatic cancers and a decreased risk of colon cancer.3 Subsequent studies
have not supported the link to pancreatic cancer. In addition, cigarettes
may be the real culprit in the link between coffee consumption and bladder
cancer, since smokers generally drink more coffee compared to the
average consumer.4 Studies on colon cancer, while mixed, lean toward a
possible protective effect from coffee.5

Regarding breast cancer, there is no evidence linking coffee consumption
to an increased risk. However, caffeine may increase symptoms of
fibrocystic breast disease, a common but benign breast condition.

According to a 2007 report by the American Institute for Cancer
Research, a part of the World Cancer Research Fund global network,
“Most evidence on coffee suggests that coffee drinking has no relationship
with cancer risk.”6

For bone health, heavy coffee use may be a problem. Excess caffeine
consumption causes calcium to be leached from bones and excreted in the
urine. Caffeine can also increase the heart rate, a concern in individuals
with certain types of cardiac arrhythmias.