Few prospective studies have examined the relationship between coffee consumption and risk of stomach cancer, and the findings have been inconsistent. We prospectively investigated the association of long-term coffee consumption with risk of stomach cancer in a population-based cohort study of 61,433 Swedish women. Information on coffee consumption was collected with a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline (1987-1990) and updated in 1997. During a mean follow-up of 15.7 years from 1987 through June 2005, 160 incident cases of stomach cancer were diagnosed. Coffee consumption was positively associated with the risk of stomach cancer. Compared to women who consumed 1 or fewer cups of coffee per day, the multivariate hazard ratios were 1.49 (95% = 0.97-2.27) for women who drank 2-3 cups per day and 1.86 (95% CI = 1.07-3.25) for those who drank 4 or more cups per day (p for trend = 0.01). An increase of 1 cup of coffee per day was associated with a statistically significant 22% increased risk of stomach cancer (hazard ratio = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.05-1.42). These prospective data suggest that coffee consumption may increase the risk of stomach cancer in a dose-response manner. This finding needs to be confirmed in other prospective studies.