[excerpt] Six or more cups of coffee a day may dramatically cut the risk of breast cancer by as much as 70 percent among women with one of the gene mutations linked to an very high risk of the disease, a new study shows.
The reduced risk, however, only applied to caffeinated coffee and women who carry a mutation in either the BRCA-1 or BRCA-2 genes. The study was published in the Jan. 1, 2006 issue of the International Journal of Cancer.
The research team led by Dr. André Nkondjock of the University of Montreal, and senior author Dr. Steven A. Narod of the University of Ohio found that, among women with either of the two breast cancer genes, the risk of actually developing breast cancer decreased in proportion to the volume of coffee consumed over time. The more the women drank, the lower the risk of breast cancer.
"These results suggest that among women with BRCA gene mutations, coffee consumption is unlikely to be harmful," the researchers wrote. "And that high levels of consumption may in fact be related to reduced breast cancer risk."
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