Coffee consumption has been linked in past research to decreased risks of a variety of cancers, including prostate cancer, oral cancer, basal cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer) and endometrial cancer. And now they think it's good for your liver too.

This discovery was made by researchers from the Università degli Studi di Milan in Italy, who reviewed 16 studies published between 1996 and 2012 that included data from 3,153 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The data showed that coffee consumption was associated with a 40 per cent decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer. Some studies even suggested a more than 50 percent decreased risk from drinking three cups of coffee a day.

However, the researchers noted that it's still not known if coffee causes this decreased risk in liver cancer, or if people who have liver disease then try to drink less coffee.

This is the first meta-analysis on liver cancer and coffee published since 2007. The findings are published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

[EurekAlert]