A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health has demonstrated that drinking four or more cups of caffeinated coffee a day may help reduce endometrial cancer risk by 30%. What’s more, drinking two or more cups of decaf also demonstrated a trend toward reducing risk by about 22%.
 “Consistent with other reports, this study suggests that women who drink coffee, regular or decaf, are at reduced risk of endometrial cancer,” according to Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology who headed the research team.
He does warn, however, that it would be premature to recommend that women take up coffee to reduce the risk of endometrial cancer, because the link between coffee consumption and lower instances of cancer does not yet prove cause and effect.
The researchers evaluated more than 67,000 women to examine the link between coffee and endometrial cancer risk and found a stronger protective effect among obese women, which has also been found in other research.
The cancer usually occurs in the inner lining of the uterus. According to the American Cancer Society, some 46,470 new cases of endometrial cancer and 8,120 deaths are expected in 2011.