ABSTRACT

Coffee contains caffeine and diterpenes that were associated with decreased breast cancer risk, but results remained inconsistent. The study purpose was to investigate the associations between coffee products and breast cancer risk among Hong Kong Chinese women. We conducted a hospital based case-control study in three public hospitals. 2169 Chinese women aged 24–84 years old were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire with questions asking types, cups and duration on coffee drinking. We used unconditional multivariate logistic regression to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for breast cancer risk with different coffee products. 238 (20.6%) cases and 179 (17.7%) controls are habitual coffee drinkers. No association was found between overall coffee drinking and breast cancer risk. Compared to the non-habitual coffee drinkers, women who consumed instant coffee (AOR=1.50, 95% CI=1.10–2.03) were significantly associated with an increased breast cancer risk. Women who drank brewed coffee (AOR=0.48, 95% CI=0.28–0.82) were negatively associated with breast cancer risk. A positive association between instant coffee and breast cancer risk was observed, contradicted to the outcomes of drinking brewed coffee. Larger studies are warranted to ascertain the role of different types of coffee products in breast cancer risk.