Coffee, Green Tea Intake, and the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

Abstract

Several studies suggest an inverse relationship between coffee intake and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the association between green tea intake and the risk of HCC is still inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis of observational studies to clarify the association. We identified eligible studies published from January 1, 1992, to February 28, 2022, by searching PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE. A total of 32 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Among them, 21 studies involving 2,492,625 participants and 5980 cases of HCC reported coffee intake, 18 studies involving 1,481,647 participants and 6985 cases of HCC reported green tea intake, and seven studies reported both coffee intake and green tea intake. The results showed that a higher coffee (RR = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.47–0.59; I2 = 0.0%; Pheterogeneity = 0.634) or green tea (RR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.67–0.95; I2 = 72.30%; Pheterogeneity < 0.001) intake may be associated with a lower risk of HCC. The same results were observed in both cohort and case-control subgroups. Our findings suggest that drinking coffee or green tea may be a potentially effective approach for the prevention or mitigation of HCC, but this still needs to be confirmed by further well-designed observational studies and clinical experimental research.

Acknowledgments

For this type of study formal consent and informed consent are not required. This article does not contain any studies with human subjects or animals performed by any of the authors.

Author Contribution Statement

JC Yu and WJ Chen: conceived and design of the study; JC Yu and FD Zhou: protocol of search and acquisition of data; JC YU and ZX LIU: assessed included studies quality. JC Yu and D Liang: drafting the article; All authors: revised and approval of the version to be submitted.

Data Availability Statement

The data were extracted within the published article and its supplementary files.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Anhui Academician Workstation of Polygonatum cyrtonema Hua in Jiuhua Mountain Keeping in Good Health Industry Research Institute in Qingyang (JHHJYSGZZ19001).