Is there is a connection between soy and breast cancer?
A fairly recent study out of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York reported that suggested that a "moderate" amount of soy in the diets of recently diagnosed women with early-stage breast cancer saw an increased in gene expression associated with cancer growth among a portion of the participants.
The study took place in the one to four weeks between diagnoses their subsequent lumpectomy or mastectomy. The study was too short to determine whether changes in gene expression might promote tumor growth. The researchers noted that the strong potential for such was a strong concern.
Two groups of randomized women were studied: one group received the soy protein and the other received a placebo. None of the study participants or researches were aware of who received the soy. Participants in the soy group with high blood levels of genistein after adding soy to their diets were evaluated for "shifts in gene expression or molecular tumor changes." High levels of genistein signal soy consumption. However, only 20 percent of them had significantly high amounts of genistein.
The women ingested about four cups worth of soymilk per day. For those whose diets regularly contain soy, as do the diets of vegetarians and Asians, that amount of is easily attainable in their everyday diets.
The study’s researcher did not include an examination of soy’s impact on cancer prevention nor did it determine whether it would have any influence on women who either don’t have breast cancer or are experiencing have premalignant changes in their breast tissue.
Given what they know, this group of researchers recommends that women consume them in moderation. Study co-author,Jacqueline Bromberg, M.D., Ph.D., advised women in the early stages of breast cancer not to eat soy in large quantities. However, women who have had breast cancer previously should be able to eat moderate amounts of soy. It is probably best to keep servings to a cup of soymilk, a half-cup of tofu, or a serving of edamame, or soy nuts.
Read the full article here: Does Soy Promote Breast Cancer? – Ask Dr. Weil
