Purpose: There is increasing evidence that coffee consumption is related to reduced risks for some cancers, but the evidence for renal cancer is inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to summarize the cohort evidence of this relationship.
Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed and Embase through February 2021. Meta-analyses using a random effects model were conducted for reported relative risk estimates (RRs) relating coffee intake and renal cancer incidence or mortality. We also performed a two-stage random effects exposure-response meta-analysis. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed.
Results: In a meta-analysis of the ten identified cohort studies, we found a summary RR of 0.88 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.78-0.99] relating the highest vs. the lowest category of coffee intake and renal cancer, with no significant between-study heterogeneity observed (I2 = 35%, p = 0.13). This inverse association remained among studies of incident cancers (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.76-0.96) and studies adjusting for smoking and body mass index (RR 0.87, 95% CI 0.77-0.99).
Conclusions: Our findings from this meta-analysis of the published cohort evidence are suggestive of an inverse association between coffee consumption and renal cancer risk.
Keywords: Coffee; Cohort study; Kidney cancer; Meta-analysis.
© 2021. This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.