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During the last few decades, epidemiologic studies have suggested that coffee consumption lowers liver-enzyme levels and prevents liver injury. Emerging data also suggest that coffee consumption lowers risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
To assess quantitatively the association between coffee consumption and HCC, researchers identified nine relevant studies (4 cohort studies and 5 case-control studies, totaling 2260 HCC cases and 239,146 controls) that were published from 2002 through 2007. Studies were included if they had a cohort or case-control design, if they specifically included evaluation of coffee consumption, if the endpoint was HCC, and if relative risk (RR) was reported. For the meta-analysis, researchers performed sensitivi…