Study: Soya May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
Sat Jul 6, 7:25 AM ET

By Richard Woodman

LONDON (Reuters) - Women eating a diet rich in soya products may be less likely to develop breast cancer ( news - web sites), scientists said on Saturday.

"Our findings considerably strengthen the hypothesis that soya consumption protects against breast cancer development," the international team said.

Scientists have previously suggested that eating soya might contribute to the low rates of breast cancer in countries like China and Japan but research has proved inconclusive.

The latest findings, by researchers at the National University of Singapore, Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute ( news - web sites), are reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Data from two studies of Chinese women in Singapore are combined. The first focused on women's eating habits, including their intake of soya, while the second used mammograms to classify women according to the density of their breast tissue.

After identifying 406 women who took part in both studies, the scientists found that those who ate the highest amounts of soya protein were 60 percent less likely to have patterns of dense breast tissue known to be associated with a higher risk of breast cancer.

"This research shows for the first time how the amount of soya a woman eats may have an effect on breast tissue and in turn may potentially reduce her risk of breast cancer," said Dr. Stephen Duffy of Cancer Research UK in a statement.

Soya is a rich source of plant estrogens which are known to protect against breast cancer in animals. Exposure to these plant estrogens appears to lengthen a woman's menstrual cycle.

Previous findings suggest that the fewer menstrual cycles a woman has in her lifetime, the lower her risk of breast cancer, the scientists said.


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