Over the course of the 26 years that the participants were tracked, 868 people died from oral or pharyngeal cancer. Researchers found that the risk of dying from this type of cancer decreased for every cup of coffee that the participants drank a day. The risk plummeted by an average of 49 percent if the participant drank over four cups of coffee a day. This association held true regardless of gender, whether or not the participant smoked, and how often the participant drank alcoholic beverages.
Researchers also found a similar, though smaller, link between drinking two or more cups of decaffeinated coffee. And - sorry, tea drinkers - the risk for oral and pharyngeal cancer held steady for the participants who consumed tea on a regular basis.
