TEHRAN — A new study has revealed that drinking hot tea has substantially increased the prevalence of esophageal cancer in Iranian province of Golestan, said the deputy health minister for research, technology and medical education. 

Golestan Province, located in the north-east of the country south of the Caspian Sea, has one of the highest rates of esophageal cancer in the world.

According to Reza Malekzadeh, the study surveyed 50,000 people over the age of 40 in cities of Gonbad, Aq Qala and Kalaleh and the villages surrounding them, ISNA reported. 

According to Medical News Today, the research was led by Dr. Farhad Islami, the strategic director of Cancer Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society. 

The researchers clinically followed the participants for an average period of 10.1 years, between 2004 and 2017. During this time, 317 people developed esophageal cancer.

The researchers divided tea temperature into "very hot" — meaning a temperature of over 60°C, and "cold or lukewarm," that is, a temperature that is or falls below 60°C.

Overall, the study found that drinking 700 milliliters of "very hot" tea per day increased the chances of esophageal cancer by 90 percent compared with drinking the same daily amount of cold or lukewarm tea. 

The results substantially strengthened the existing evidence supporting an association between hot beverage drinking and esophageal cancer risk. 

SJ/MQ/MG