Soy Does Not Appear To Increase Breast Cancer Deaths, Recurrence, Study Finds

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 11 Dec 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Soy foods may not be harmful to breast cancer survivors -- as some animal studies have suggested -- and they could even reduce the risk of recurrence of the disease, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Los Angeles Times reports. Breast cancer survivors have previously been told to avoid soy products in light of animal research showing that soy might increase the odds of a recurrence of the disease. Researchers had believed soy acts like the hormone estrogen, which promotes breast tumor growth.

The new study of more than 5,000 breast cancer survivors in China found that women who had the highest soy intake had a 29% lower risk of dying during the study period and a 32% lower risk of breast cancer recurrence than the women who had the lowest intake. Lead author Xiao Ou Shu, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, said the issue has been controversial because some physicians have advised women to avoid soy, while others feel the foods are safe. "Our findings are important because nowadays, it's very difficult to avoid soy exposure," Shu said.

It is not clear why soy may lower cancer recurrence and death rates, Shu said. She also cautioned that researchers cannot definitely say there are no negative effects from soy, as some components of soy might have different effects for different groups (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 12/9).

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