Coffee and tea consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer: a pooled analysis of prospective studies from the Asia Cohort Consortium.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggests that consuming coffee may lower the risk of death, but evidence regarding tea consumption in Asians is limited. We examined the association between coffee and tea consumption and mortality in Asian populations. METHODS: We used data from 12 prospective cohort studies including 248 050 men and 280 454 women from the Asia Cohort Consortium conducted in China, Japan, Korea and Singapore. We estimated the study-specific association of coffee, green tea and black tea consumption with mortality using Cox proportional-hazards regression models and the pooled study-specific hazard ratios (HRs) using a random-effects model. RESULTS: In total, 94 744 deaths were identified during the follow-up, which ranged from an average of 6.5 to 22.7 years. Compared with coffee non-drinkers, men and women who drank at least five cups of coffee per day had a 24% [95% confidence interval (CI) 17%, 29%] and a 28% (95% CI 19%, 37%) lower risk of all-cause mortality, respectively. Similarly, we found inverse associations for coffee consumption with cardiovascular disease (CVD)-specific and cancer-specific mortality among both men and women. Green tea consumption was associated with lower risk of mortality from all causes, CVD and other causes but not from cancer. The association of drinking green tea with CVD-specific mortality was particularly strong, with HRs (95% CIs) of 0.79 (0.68, 0.91) for men and 0.78 (0.68, 0.90) for women who drank at least five cups per day of green tea compared with non-drinkers. The association between black tea consumption and mortality was weak, with no clear trends noted across the categories of consumption. CONCLUSIONS: In Asian populations, coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of death overall and with lower risks of death from CVD and cancer. Green tea consumption is associated with lower risks of death from all causes and CVD.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis and Mendelian randomization analysis confirm the influence of ALDH2 on sleep durationin the Japanese population.

Usual sleep duration has substantial heritability and is associated with various physical and psychiatric conditions as well as mortality. However, for its genetic locus, only PAX8 and VRK2 have been replicated in previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We conducted a GWAS meta-analysis of self-reported usual sleep duration using three population-based cohorts totaling 31 230 Japanese individuals. A genome-wide significant locus was identified at 12q24 (p-value < 5.0 × 10-8). Subsequently, a functional variant in the ALDH2 locus, rs671, was replicated in an independent sample of 5140 Japanese individuals (p-value = 0.004). The association signal, however, disappeared after adjusting for alcohol consumption, indicating the possibility that the rs671 genotype modifies sleep duration via alcohol consumption. This hypothesis explained a modest genetic correlation observed between sleep duration and alcohol consumption (rG = 0.23). A Mendelian randomization analysis using rs671 and other variants as instrumental variables confirmed this by showing a causal effect of alcohol consumption, but not of coffee consumption on sleep duration. Another genome-wide significant locus was identified at 5q33 after adjusting for drinking frequency. However, this locus was not replicated, nor was the PAX8 and VRK2. Our study has confirmed that a functional ALDH2 variant, rs671, most strongly influences on usual sleep duration possibly via alcohol consumption in the Japanese population, and presumably in East Asian populations. This highlights the importance of considering the involvement of alcohol consumption in future GWAS of usual sleep duration, even in non-East Asian populations, where rs671 is monomorphic.

Coffee drinking and colorectal cancer and its subsites: A pooled analysis of 8 cohort studies in Japan.

Coffee is a rich source of bioactive compounds that have potential anticarcinogenic effects. However, it remains unclear whether coffee drinking is associated with colorectal cancer. Also, despite different etiological factors involved in gut physiology, few studies have investigated this association by anatomical site of the lesion. To address these issues, this study examined the association between coffee drinking and colorectal cancer in a pooled analysis from 8 cohort studies conducted in Japan. Among 320,322 participants followed up for 4,503,274 person-years, 6,711 incident colorectal cancer cases were identified. Study-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models and then pooled using the random effects model. Coffee drinking was not materially associated with colorectal cancer risk in men or women (pooled HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.82-1.03 in men and pooled HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.76-1.07 in women). Analysis by subsite showed a lower risk of colon cancer among female drinkers of ≥3 cups coffee/day (pooled HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.64-0.99). There was no such association in men. Coffee drinking was not associated with risk of rectal cancer in men or women. Results were virtually the same among never smokers except for an increased risk of rectal cancer associated with frequent coffee consumption. Coffee drinking may be associated with lower risk of colon cancer in Japanese women.

A genome-wide association study in the Japanese population identifies the 12q24 locus for habitual coffee consumption: The J-MICC Study.

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages worldwide, and its role in human health has received much attention. Although genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have investigated genetic variants associated with coffee consumption in European populations, no such study has yet been conducted in an Asian population. Here, we conducted a GWAS to identify common genetic variations that affected coffee consumption in a Japanese population of 11,261 participants recruited as a part of the Japan Multi-Institutional Collaborative Cohort (J-MICC) study. Coffee consumption was collected using a self-administered questionnaire, and converted from categories to cups/day. In the discovery stage (n = 6,312), we found 2 independent loci (12q24.12-13 and 5q33.3) that met suggestive significance (P < 1 × 10-6). In the replication stage (n = 4,949), the lead variant for the 12q24.12-13 locus (rs2074356) was significantly associated with habitual coffee consumption (P = 2.2 × 10-6), whereas the lead variant for the 5q33.3 locus (rs1957553) was not (P = 0.53). A meta-analysis of the discovery and replication populations, and the combined analysis using all subjects, revealed that rs2074356 achieved genome-wide significance (P = 2.2 × 10-16 for a meta-analysis). These findings indicate that the 12q24.12-13 locus is associated with coffee consumption among a Japanese population.

Coffee consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer by anatomical subsite in Japan: Results from the HERPACC studies.

Consumption of coffee, a popular beverage worldwide, has been associated with lower colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Although CRC exhibits different biological characteristics by anatomical subsite, the possibly heterogeneous impact of coffee on CRC by anatomical subsite has remained unclear. Here, we conducted two case-control studies to examine the association between coffee consumption and CRC risk as well as risk by anatomic subsite among Japanese using data from the Hospital-based Epidemiological Research Program at Aichi Cancer Center I and II (HERPACC-I and II). Subjects were enrolled in HERPACC-I between 1988 and 2000 and in HERPACC-II between 2001 and 2005. Coffee consumption was measured with a self-administered questionnaire. A conditional logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) of CRC with coffee consumption, adjusted for potential confounders of age, smoking, alcohol drinking, red meat intake, BMI, exercise, family history of CRC, and diabetes mellitus history. We estimated summary ORs by pooling study-specific ORs with a fixed effects model. In total, 2,696 CRC cases and 13,480 non-cancer outpatients as controls were included. Overall, compared to non-drinkers, ORs of less than 1 cup/day, 1-2 cups/day and 3 or more cups/day for CRC were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.77-1.00), 0.90 (95% CI: 0.80-1.01) and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.65-0.92), respectively (trend-p = 0.009). Subsite-specific analysis revealed a significant inverse linear trend between coffee consumption and distal colon cancer (p-trend = 0.048), and a tendency toward a lower risk of rectal cancer (p-trend = 0.068). These findings suggest that coffee consumption might impact the prevention of CRC, especially distal colon cancer.

Comparison between surgery and definitive chemoradiotherapy for patients with resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a propensity score analysis.

PURPOSE: Our intent was to compare survival following neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery versus chemoradiotherapy (CRT) among patients with potentially resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS: Information about 406 consecutive esophageal cancer patients with resectable disease who underwent surgery with neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of cisplatin plus 5-fluorouracil or who underwent definitive CRT was reviewed. The survival outcomes were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models. Relevant variables were included in the propensity score model. RESULTS: Overall, 206 patients planned to undergo surgery (S group) and 200 patients planned to undergo CRT (CRT group). In the unadjusted situation, progression-free survival and overall survival did not differ statistically between the groups. After matching, both survival outcomes were better in the S group compared to the CRT group. Subanalysis showed both survival outcomes were better in the S group for patients with only stage III disease. However, survival outcomes for stages I, II, and IV were not significantly different between treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with resectable disease, survival outcomes in the S group were favored over those of the CRT group. These results indicate that different therapeutic strategies should be used for stage III esophageal cancer than for other stages.

Coffee and green tea consumption is associated with upper aerodigestive tract cancer in Japan.

The impact of coffee and green tea consumption on upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer risk has not been established. Evaluation of the possible anticarcinogenic properties of their ingredients is confounded by the potential increase in risk owing to the high temperatures at which these beverages are generally consumed. We conducted a case-control study to evaluate the association between coffee and tea consumption and the risk of UADT cancer. The study enrolled 961 patients with UADT cancer and 2,883 noncancer outpatients who visited Aichi Cancer Center between 2001 and 2005. Information on coffee and green tea consumption and other lifestyle factors was collected via a self-administered questionnaire. Consumption of three or more cups of coffee per day had a significant inverse association with UADT cancer [odds ratio (OR) 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55-0.96]. In contrast, consumption of three or more cups of green tea per day had a significant positive association with UADT cancer (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.13-1.70). These associations were evident for head and neck cancer but not for esophageal cancer. The association of coffee consumption with head and neck cancer was observed only among never smokers and alcohol drinkers. Similarly, the association of green tea consumption was observed among never smokers and never alcohol drinkers. No change in these associations was seen on stratification by each confounding factors. These findings suggest that consumption of coffee might be associated with a decreased risk of UADT cancer, whereas that of green tea might be associated with an increased risk.