Hot drinks linked to increased risk of esophageal cancer
Regular consumption of very hot drinks may be associated with an increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Moreover, it is not the drink itself that matters, but its temperature: those who prefer very hot tea or coffee had about three times the risk of disease than people who drank them warm. This is the conclusion reached by Oxford University scientists after analyzing the data of almost 1 million people. Izvestia tells us why high fever can damage the esophagus and how great the risk is for lovers of hot coffee and tea.
How Hot Drinks are Linked to Esophageal cancer
Researchers from Oxford Population Health examined data from almost 980,000 UK adults. To do this, the scientists combined information from two large projects — the UK Biobank and the Million Women Study. The work has become the largest study to date on the relationship between the temperature of drinks and the risk of esophageal cancer in the British population.
Participants were asked what temperature drinks they usually prefer: warm, hot or very hot. The researchers then compared this information with medical data: the follow-up spanned 14 years in the Million Women Study and 11 years in the UK Biobank.
The results showed a pronounced dependence on temperature. People who preferred hot drinks had about a 1.7-fold higher risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus compared to those who usually drank warm drinks. For fans of very hot drinks, the indicator was about three times higher.
At the same time, it mattered not only how hot the drink was, but also the frequency of its consumption. After taking temperature into account, the researchers found that six or more hot drinks per day were associated with a 71% increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus compared with drinking less than six drinks. The researchers did not find a similar pronounced association with adenocarcinoma, another major type of esophageal cancer.
The authors emphasize that it is about the temperature of the liquid, and not about the properties of coffee or tea. The results do not mean that coffee or tea alone cause esophageal cancer.
Why high temperatures can be dangerous
One of the possible explanations for the discovered connection is considered to be regular thermal damage to cells of the mucous membrane of the esophagus. When a person swallows a liquid that is too hot, it comes into direct contact with the tissues lining the esophagus. Repeated exposure to high temperatures can damage cells, after which the body has to repair the affected tissues. Scientists suggest that repeated repetition of such a cycle of damage and regeneration may contribute to the development of tumor changes.
The hypothesis about the role of temperature appeared long before the new British study. In 2016, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified the consumption of very hot drinks as "probably carcinogenic to humans" — group 2A.
The agency's experts came to this conclusion after analyzing epidemiological studies, including those on the use of mate in South America and tea in Asia and Africa. In studies, an increased risk was observed when drinking very hot drinks, whereas for the same drinks at a lower temperature, the association was significantly weaker or absent.
Experimental data also support this hypothesis. The IARC materials note that in animal studies, very hot water with a temperature of about 65 degrees contributed to the development of esophageal tumors, while mate itself did not demonstrate such an effect.
What previous studies have shown
The relationship between beverage temperature and esophageal cancer has been studied for several decades, but much of the early research was conducted in regions where it is customary to drink mate or tea at particularly high temperatures. Therefore, for a long time the question remained whether the discovered pattern applies to residents of Western countries, where tea and coffee are also widespread, but the culture of their use is different.
In February 2025, a major prospective study was published in the British Journal of Cancer. The authors analyzed data from 454,796 adult participants of the UK Biobank. During the follow-up period, 242 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus and 710 cases of adenocarcinoma were registered among them.
Researchers have found a relationship between the amount of hot drinks and the risk of squamous cell carcinoma. Compared to people who did not consume such drinks or preferred them to be warm, drinking four to six cups of hot drinks per day was associated with an almost twofold increase in relative risk — the risk coefficient was 1.97.
An even more pronounced relationship was observed among people who preferred very hot drinks. Even when drinking no more than four cups a day, the risk ratio was 2.52, and with an increase in the number of drinks consumed, the indicator continued to grow.
The authors of the study concluded that drinking hot and especially very hot drinks is associated with an increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in the UK, where tea and coffee are part of the daily diet of a significant part of the population. However, there was no clear association with esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Does this mean that coffee needs to be cooled to 65 degrees?
There is an important limitation here. In the British studies, scientists did not measure the actual temperature of each cup of tea or coffee. Participants independently indicated whether they considered their drinks to be warm, hot, or very hot.
Therefore, the new results show a link between the subjective preference for the temperature of the drink and the risk of disease, but do not allow us to draw an exact boundary after which the risk begins to increase. The threshold of 65 degrees comes from the IARC estimate. It does not mean that a drink at a temperature of 64 degrees is safe, and at 66 degrees it suddenly becomes carcinogenic.
Keren Papier, lead author of the new study and senior epidemiologist in nutrition at Oxford Population Health, noted that international studies have long demonstrated a link between drinking drinks at very high temperatures and certain types of esophageal cancer. However, it has been less clear so far whether this pattern applies to the temperatures at which tea and coffee are commonly consumed by Westerners.
According to her, the new study was the largest work on this issue among the UK population and complemented the existing evidence linking very hot drinks with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. However, additional research is needed to establish the specific temperatures at which the risk begins to increase.
How big is the risk
The results of the study do not mean that a person who regularly drinks hot coffee is automatically more likely to have esophageal cancer. It's about increasing relative risk. According to Cancer Research UK, the lifetime probability of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus among UK residents is about 1%. Therefore, even a threefold increase in relative risk should be considered taking into account the relatively low initial probability of the disease.
In addition, the study is observational in nature. It allows us to detect a statistical relationship between the habits of participants and the subsequent development of the disease, but by itself cannot definitively prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Nevertheless, the new results are consistent with both the previous British study of 2025, as well as research data from other regions of the world and the IARC assessment.
There are other well-studied risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus, primarily smoking and alcohol consumption. Therefore, Cancer Research UK experts emphasize that quitting smoking and reducing alcohol consumption remain important ways to reduce the likelihood of the disease.
As for tea and coffee, experts recommend letting the drink cool down if it feels scalding hot. It is impossible to set a universal waiting time after brewing, since the cooling rate depends on the initial temperature of the water, the volume of the drink, the material of the dishes, the addition of milk and other conditions. Therefore, they suggest focusing primarily on sensations: a drink should be drunk when its temperature has become comfortable and it no longer burns your mouth.
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