People who drink more than three cups of coffee a day have a lesser risk of getting a type of skin cancer known as basal cell carcinoma (BCC).

This was discovered by scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. According to the study, women in the study who drank more than 3 cups of coffee per day were 20 percent less likely to develop BCC, than those who drank less than a cup per day. Meanwhile, men who consumed more than three cups per day shown a 9 percent reduction in risk of BCC.

Data came from the Nurses' Health Study, which followed 72,921 people between 1984 and 2008, and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which followed 39,976 people between 1986 and 2008. In the two studies, the researchers found 88 percent or 22,786 of the 25,480 skin cancer cases, of which BCC was represented.

"Given the nearly 1 million new cases of BCC diagnosed each year in the United States, daily dietary factors with even small protective effects may have great public health impact," Dr. Fengju Song, lead author of the study from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said

"Our study indicates that coffee consumption may be an important option to help prevent BCC," she said.

The researchers noted that they found an association, but not a direct cause-effect link. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and probe how coffee may act to reduce the risk of BCC, they said.

But reducing skin cancer risk is not the only benefit for coffee consumption. It has also been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer and prostate cancer and cancer overall.

"To the best of our knowledge, coffee consumption is a healthy habit," Song said.

Their findings were presented at the 10th American Association for Cancer Research International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research held Oct. 22 to 25.