Regularly drinking very hot coffee or tea may increase the risk of a type of esophageal cancer, according to a large study from the University of Oxford. People who described their beverages as “very hot” had about three times the risk of developing oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma, known as SCC, compared with people who drank warm beverages.

SCC begins in the cells lining the esophagus. Meanwhile, drinking six or more hot beverages per day was associated with a 71% higher risk of the disease.

Researchers did not find the same connection for esophageal adenocarcinoma, known as AC. That type of cancer develops in the lower part of the esophagus.

The research included nearly 1 million adults in the U.K. and was the largest investigation of its kind to date, according to lead study author Keren Papier. Papier is a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford.

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Roughly half of the participants came from the Million Women Study and were followed for an average of 14 years. The other half came from the UK Biobank and were followed for 11 years.

The results were published in the International Journal of Cancer. The findings showed that the reported temperature of the beverages was connected with different levels of SCC risk.

“Compared with people who reported drinking their beverages ‘warm,’ those who drank them ‘hot’ had around a 1.7 times higher risk of SCC, while those who drank them ‘very hot’ had around a three times higher risk,” Papier told Fox News Digital.

The researchers estimated that about 14% of SCC cases could potentially be prevented if people drank beverages “hot” instead of “very hot.” However, that estimate applies only if the observed association reflects a true cause and effect relationship.

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A key limitation was that participants reported their preferred beverage temperatures themselves. Researchers did not directly measure the temperature of the drinks, and individual tolerance for heat could have led people to classify similar temperatures differently.

Papier emphasized that the results do not suggest abandoning coffee or tea. “These findings don't mean people need to stop drinking tea or coffee. Just let your drinks cool down a little before drinking them.”

Dr. Aaron Sasson, chief of surgical oncology at Stony Brook Cancer Center in New York, said the findings were biologically plausible but should be considered in context. He said hot beverages and liquids can irritate the esophagus and could contribute to the development of esophageal cancer.

According to Sasson, hotter liquids carry a higher risk of a “thermal injury.” He compared repeated exposure in the esophagus with a burn affecting the skin.

“Similar to burning your hand, if you were to get a burn on your hand, you have an increased risk of getting squamous cell carcinoma of the hand, of the skin developing in the burned area,” Sasson said. “So, think of that as constantly repeating a burn to the esophagus.”

Sasson stressed that the research specifically examined squamous carcinomas rather than adenocarcinomas. He noted that about 85% of esophageal cancers in the United States are adenocarcinomas, while the incidence of squamous carcinomas in the esophagus is quite low.

The lifetime risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus in the U.S. is less than 1%, Sasson said. He also agreed that the lack of an objective temperature measurement left an unknown variable in the study.

“If you are a heavy consumer of hot tea or coffee, maybe you'd want to cool it down a little bit,” he advised. “But I think, for practical purposes, for most people, [it’s] not the predominant risk factor for squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.”

Smoking, heavy alcohol use, acid reflux and obesity are among the better established risk factors for esophageal cancer, according to Sasson. “If you were to limit alcohol consumption and eliminate cigarette smoking, you will have done wonders for your esophagus.”