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Very hot drinks triple esophageal cancer risk, Oxford study finds

By Drooid · Sep 12, 2026, 3:15 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

British researchers at Oxford found very hot tea or coffee triples risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
The analysis combined data from 977,282 UK adults in the Million Women Study and UK Biobank.
Consuming six or more very hot drinks daily increased risk by 71%.
No link was observed between drink temperature and esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Experts recommend briefly cooling drinks and focusing on smoking and alcohol reduction.

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Story summary

British researchers at Oxford found very hot tea or coffee triples risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
The analysis combined data from 977,282 UK adults in the Million Women Study and UK Biobank.
Consuming six or more very hot drinks daily increased risk by 71%.
No link was observed between drink temperature and esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Experts recommend briefly cooling drinks and focusing on smoking and alcohol reduction.