A study has claimed that drinking four or more cups of coffee every day may prevent colon cancer from recurring and may also improve chances of a cure, Financial Express reports.

The study included nearly 1,000 patients who had been earlier treated with surgery and chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer.

The researchers found out that these patients were 42 percent less likely to suffer from a return of the cancer and 33 percent less likely to die from cancer or some other cause. All the patients under study filled out a questionnaire on their dietary pattern during chemotherapy and a year later.

"We found that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of the cancer coming back and a significantly greater survival and chance of a cure," said Charles Fuchs, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Centre at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, reports Financial Express.

He also said that most recurrences of colon cancer occur within five years of treatment.

Fuchs and his colleagues also noted that the lowered risk of cancer recurrence due to coffee intake was entirely attributed to the presence of caffeine in coffee.

However, the study has not made any concrete recommendations until the results of the study are confirmed in other studies.

A number of recent studies suggested that coffee may have protective effects against the several kinds of cancer as coffee helps reduce inflammation by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin.

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.