Soy safe for breast cancer

Research in monkeys suggests that a diet high in the natural plant estrogens found in soy does not increase the risk of breast or uterine cancer in postmenopausal women.

"This is convincing evidence that at dietary levels, the estrogens found in soy do not stimulate cell growth and other markers for cancer risk," said Charles E. Wood, DVM, file study's lead researcher, from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. "The findings should be especially interesting to women at high risk for breast cancer who take soy products."

The research is reported in the July 2004 issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Wood said there has been much debate about whether high levels of dietary soy are safe for postmenopausal women. Soy products are sold as a natural alternative to traditional hormone therapy.

The most common form of hormone therapy, estrogen plus a progestin, has been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.

The experiment was conducted over 3 years, with postmenopausal monkeys consuming the human equivalent of 129 mg of soy isoflavones per day, which is more than most people would get in a soy-rich diet.

COPYRIGHT 2004 PRIMEDIA Intertec, a PRIMEDIA Company. All Rights Reserved.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group