Key Summary:
- Very hot drinks were linked to a threefold higher risk of one type of oesophageal cancer.
- Six or more hot drinks daily were associated with a 71% higher SCC risk.
- Researchers analysed data from 977,282 adults across two UK cohorts.
Very Hot Drinks Linked to Threefold Higher Oesophageal Cancer Risk
CONSUMING very hot drinks regularly could triple a person’s risk of developing a type of oesophageal cancer, according to a new study.
Researchers at Oxford University found in a study of nearly 1 million UK adults that both the temperature and number of hot drinks consumed were associated with the risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Hot Drinks and Oesophageal Cancer
The study invloved analysing 977,282 participants from the Million Women Study and UK Biobank, making this the largest study to investigate the association in a UK population.1
Participants reported whether they preferred their hot drinks “warm”, “hot”, or “very hot”, alongside how many cups of tea and coffee they consumed each day. Their health records were then followed for an average of 14.2 years in the Million Women Study and 11.1 years in UK Biobank.
During follow-up, 2,348 cases of oesophageal cancer among the cohort were recorded, including 1,045 cases of SCC and 1,303 cases of adenocarcinoma.
Compared with drinking beverages warm, those who consumed them very hot were associated with more than three times the risk of SCC.
Frequency also appeared to matter. After accounting for drink temperature, consuming six or more hot drinks per day was associated with a 71% higher risk of SCC compared with drinking fewer than six.
However, neither drink temperature nor frequency showed a strong association with oesophageal adenocarcinoma, the other main type of oesophageal cancer.
Could Letting Drinks Cool Reduce Risk?
Scientists outside the UK have been studying this association for years. Previous research from Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East all linked very hot beverages with oesophageal cancer.
In 2016, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer classified beverages consumed above 65°C as “probably carcinogenic to humans”.2
The reason for this, researchers believe, it that repeated exposure to high temperatures may damage cells lining the oesophagus, potentially increasing cancer risk over time.
They also noted that this latest study relied on participants’ self-reported temperature preferences rather than directly measuring the temperature of their drinks.
Overall, they estimated that as many as 14% of oesophageal SCC cases could potentially be prevented if people who preferred very hot drinks instead consumed them at slightly lower temperatures more typical of the “hot” category.
Despite the increased relative risk, experts stressed that oesophageal SCC remains relatively uncommon in the UK.
Cancer Research UK advises allowing tea or coffee to cool before drinking, but emphasised that not smoking and cutting down on alcohol are still the most important ways to reduce the risk of developing oesophageal SCC.
Reference
1 Papier K et al. Hot drinks and oesophageal cancer: prospective analyses in around 1 million UK adults. Int J Cancer. 2026; DOI: 10.1002/ijc.70654.
2 World Health Organization. FACT SHEET: Cancer of the Oesophagus and Drinking Very Hot Beverages. 2016. https://www.iarc.who.int/media-centre-iarc-news-drinking-very-hot-beverages/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
3 Cancer Research UK. New UK study links hot drink consumption to one type of oesophageal cancer. 2016. cancerresearchuk
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