Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Linked to Higher Risk of Liver Cancer Subtypes

A pooled analysis of 11 prospective cohort studies involving more than 1.5 million adults found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) was associated with an increased risk of both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), whereas artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) were not associated with liver cancer risk. Researchers followed 1,518,411 cancer-free participants for a median of 17.8 years and identified 2,811 incident liver cancer cases, including 1,699 HCC and 444 ICC cases. Beverage intake was assessed using validated food-frequency questionnaires, and associations were analyzed per one-beverage-per-day increase. After adjusting for demographic and lifestyle factors, each additional daily serving of an SSB was associated with a 10% higher risk of HCC and a 15% higher risk of ICC, although no significant association was observed with overall liver cancer risk. In contrast, ASB consumption was not linked to liver cancer overall or to either subtype. The associations did not differ according to diabetes status. These findings suggest that greater SSB consumption may contribute to the development of major liver cancer subtypes, while current evidence does not support a similar association for ASBs. Source: https://jamanetwork.com/