Men who drink 7 cups of tea are 50 per cent more likely to develop prostate cancer But the university's Institute of Health and Wellbeing said the previous studies had fewer participants than the 6,000 they monitored and less information about their lifestyle. Dr Kashif Shafique, who led the research, said: "I was surprised when we discovered there does seem to be a link. We found that with each cup of tea drank above seven cups, the bigger the risk of you catching the cancer. We don't know whether tea itself is a risk factor or if tea drinkers are generally healthier and live to an older age when prostate cancer is more common anyway. Although the report confirmed there was "strong" evidence green tea helps prevent cancer, it said the evidence about the black tea used in the traditional British cuppa is "equivocal." Its results were based on the Midspan Collaborative Study, which started in Scotland in 1970 when 6,016 men aged between 21 and 75 were asked detailed questions about their lifestyle, including daily tea intake, then monitored for up to 37 years. The study team found 6.4 per cent of those who consumed at least seven cups of tea per day contracted prostate cancer compared to 4.6 per cent of those who drank three cups at most. When the figures were adjusted to take account of the participants" age, health and lifestyle, the researchers found heavy tea drinkers were 50 per cent more likely to develop the disease. But Dr Bill Gorman, chairman of the UK Tea Council, which represents the industry, said: "I notice that Dr Shafique has said that he doesn't know if it is tea itself which increases the likelihood of prostate cancer." The Tea Advisory Panel, a health information body funded by the council, said there were seven other studies concluding "the complete opposite." Dr Carrie Ruxton, a dietician who sits on the panel, said: "The study doesn't show a cause and effect relationship between tea drinking and cancer risk. Tea drinking is simply a marker for some other issue. That may be down to issues with stress, or perhaps diet.