Ovarian cancer risk lower in tea drinkers – study

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Drinking two or more cups of tea per
day may dramatically cut the risk of ovarian cancer, a Swedish
study of more than 61,000 women said on Monday.

The findings by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm were based on a look back at the habits and long-term
health of the women, the report published in the Archives of
Internal Medicine said.

Of the women recruited for the study that began in 1987,
two-thirds reported drinking tea. When it concluded at the end
of 2004, 301 participants had developed ovarian cancer, a
particularly deadly form of the disease.

“We observed a 46 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer in
women who drank two or more cups of tea per day compared with
non-drinkers,” study authors Susanna Larsson and Alicja Wolk
wrote. “Each additional cup of tea per day was associated with
an 18 percent lower risk of ovarian cancer.”

Black and green teas are believed to contain antioxidants
that help ward off the cell mutation that leads to cancer.

The researchers cautioned that additional studies were
needed to confirm their findings.

Ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in about 22,000 U.S. women
this year and 80 percent of cases are not detected until the
cancer has spread. That means more than 16,000 U.S. women will
die of ovarian cancer in 2005, according to the American Cancer
Society.