Caffeine May Protect Against Type of Skin Cancer

In a study presented recently at the 10th AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, experts from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School demonstrate that caffeine offers a protective effect against basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

This is one of the three types of skin cancer for which the association was tested. The other two types were squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Caffeine was not found to have the same protective effect against these conditions.

At the same time, the research team highlighted the fact that the effect was not visible in test subjects who consumed decaffeinated coffee. This suggests that the chemical caffeine itself somehow protects against BCC. Experts say that they will continue to work in finding our more about this link.