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# Coffee drinking lowers risk of cutaneous melanoma
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/coffee_drinking_cutaneous_melanoma_1123130804/
- Published: 2013-11-24T21:04:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:26:44.000Z
- Description: A Cancer Causes & Control study comparing 304 melanoma cases with 305 controls found people who drank coffee more than once a day were about 50% less likely to be diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, with a stronger association among those lacking GSTM1 and GSTT1.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Sunday Nov 23, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study in Cancer Causes & Control suggests that drinking coffee often can cut risk of cutaneous melanoma.

Cristina Fortes and colleagues conducted the study and found men and women who drank coffee more than once per day were about 50% less likely to be diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, compared with those drinking less than once per day.

The study found the association after comparing 304 cases of cutaneous melanoma and 305 controls with the disease. Potential confounders considered in the study of the association included gender, age, education status, hair color, common nevi, skin phototype, and sunburn episodes in childhood.

The protective effect of coffee was found particularly high among individuals who did not either polymorphic gene GSTM1 nor GSTT1 among whom those who drank the highest amount of coffee daily were almost 99% less likely to develop cutaneous melanoma than others.

The study concluded "Our results show a protective effect of coffee consumption for cutaneous melanoma, in particular for those with homozygous deletion for GSTM1 and GSTT1."

Cutaneous melanoma is melanoma that occurs on the skin, which is the most common type of melanoma. Common types of melanoma include superficial spreading melanoma, nodular melanoma, acral lentiginous melanoma, and Lentigo Maligna melanoma.

Melanoma is found most in the skin, but can also be found in other parts of the body including the eyes, ears, GI tract, oral and genital mucous membrane and letomeninges.

Melanoma accounts for only 4% of all skin cancers, but it is highly deadly.

Research suggests that high vitamin D can be protective against the development of melanoma. That is, exposure to sunshine, which is needed for vitamin D synthesis, can reduce the risk even though excess sunshine exposure can increase the risk of non-lethal skin cancer. (David Liu, PHD)