London - Drinking two cups of coffee a day could halve the risk of breast cancer returning, a study found.
A cancer-killing cocktail of the hormone drug tamoxifen and two coffees every day reduced the risk of tumours by 50 percent in women recovering from the disease, researchers said.
Tamoxifen kills cancer cells or stunts their growth, blocking the cancer-causing hormone oestrogen from reaching diseased cells. It is the main drug given to women who have not been through the menopause, and is usually taken for five years or more after breast cancer treatment.
But when combined with two cups of coffee it can be even more effective, according to a study of 1 090 patients by British and Swedish scientists at Lund University, Sweden.
They found women who had been treated with tamoxifen and who had drunk at least two cups of coffee a day had half the risk of cancer returning compared with those who drank less coffee or none at all.
Ann Rosendahl, one of the researchers, said: “The study also shows that those who drank at least two cups of coffee a day had smaller tumours.”
A Harvard Medical School study has previously found coffee can cut skin cancer risk in women.
Daily Mail