This study confirms evidence in other recent research — concerns about soy being harmful for women with breast cancer turn out to be baseless. In fact, soy foods appear to be protective.
But the authors note that this evidence should not be presumed to apply to concentrated or isolated soy supplements.
Soy consumption appears to be safe, and potentially even protective, for women with breast cancer despite fears about estrogen-like effects, according to a population-based study.
Chinese breast cancer patients who ate the most soy — more than 15.31 g soy protein per day on average — had a significant 29% lower risk of dying than those who consumed the least (5.31 g or less), according to Xiao Ou Shu, MD, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and colleagues.
A similar benefit appeared for breast cancer recurrence risk, regardless of tamoxifen use, they reported in the Dec. 9 Journal of the American Medical Association.
While American women typically eat less than one-tenth as much soy as their counterparts in China, the results should be reassuring regardless of consumption, according to an accompanying editorial.
