咖啡是一种用经过烘焙的咖啡豆制作出来的含有咖啡因的饮料，与可乐，茶同为流行于世界的主要饮品。而一直以来咖啡是否影响健康是很多人都极为关心的话题，多年以来科学家之间争论不休。

　　最近，来自美国丹娜法伯癌症中心的科学家进行了一项研究，他们发现日常饮用含咖啡因的咖啡能够帮助预防治疗后的结肠癌复发，并能够提高结肠癌治愈的几率。相关研究结果发表在国际学术期刊Journal of clinical oncology上。

　　这项研究包含了接近1000名结肠癌病人，研究人员在研究开始早期病人接受化疗期间以及一年之后，分别对其进行了问卷调查，统计他们的咖啡饮用习惯。结果表明这些结肠癌III期并接受了手术和化疗治疗的病人中，每天饮用超过4杯咖啡（大约含有460毫克咖啡因）的病人获益最大，这些病人相比于不饮用咖啡的病人癌症复发风险降低了42%，因癌症或因他因素死亡的风险也降低了33%。每天饮用2到3杯咖啡获益比较适中，而每天只饮用1杯或不饮用咖啡的人基本不会获益。

　　研究人员指出，虽然这项研究表明饮用咖啡可以帮助预防治疗后的结肠癌复发，但是仍然需要其他研究对这一结果进行进一步验证，否则不能依此给病人做出任何指导。对于那些正在接受结肠癌治疗的有咖啡饮用习惯的病人，应当继续保持这一习惯，但是如果病人并没有饮用咖啡的习惯，究竟是否应该开始饮用咖啡，仍然需要与自己的主治医生交流之后再做决定。

　　doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.61.5062

　　Coffee Intake, Recurrence, and Mortality in Stage III Colon Cancer: Results From CALGB 89803 (Alliance)

　　Brendan J. Guercio, Kaori Sato, Donna Niedzwiecki, Xing Ye, Leonard B. Saltz, Robert J. Mayer, Rex B. Mowat, Renaud Whittom, Alexander Hantel, Al Benson, Daniel Atienza, Michael Messino, Hedy Kindler, Alan Venook, Frank B. Hu, Shuji Ogino, Kana Wu, Walter C. Willett, Edward L. Giovannucci, Jeffrey A. Meyerhardt and Charles S. Fuchs

　　Purpose Observational studies have demonstrated increased colon cancer recurrence in states of relative hyperinsulinemia, including sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and increased dietary glycemic load. Greater coffee consumption has been associated with decreased risk of type 2 diabetes and increased insulin sensitivity. The effect of coffee on colon cancer recurrence and survival is unknown.

　　Patients and Methods During and 6 months after adjuvant chemotherapy, 953 patients with stage III colon cancer prospectively reported dietary intake of caffeinated coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and nonherbal tea, as well as 128 other items. We examined the influence of coffee, nonherbal tea, and caffeine on cancer recurrence and mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression.

　　Results Patients consuming 4 cups/d or more of total coffee experienced an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for colon cancer recurrence or mortality of 0.58 (95% CI, 0.34 to 0.99), compared with never drinkers (Ptrend = .002). Patients consuming 4 cups/d or more of caffeinated coffee experienced significantly reduced cancer recurrence or mortality risk compared with abstainers (HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25 to 0.91; Ptrend = .002), and increasing caffeine intake also conferred a significant reduction in cancer recurrence or mortality (HR, 0.66 across extreme quintiles; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.93; Ptrend = .006). Nonherbal tea and decaffeinated coffee were not associated with patient outcome. The association of total coffee intake with improved outcomes seemed consistent across other predictors of cancer recurrence and mortality.

　　Conclusion Higher coffee intake may be associated with significantly reduced cancer recurrence and death in patients with stage III colon cancer.