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University at Buffalo Study Finds Chemicals to Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer

A new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute has found that isoflavones – chemicals that are found in soy products and in other plant-based foods - may reduce the risk of developing certain types of breast tumors.

The study showed that women with newly diagnosed breast cancer who consumed the highest versus lowest amounts of isoflavones, a class of phytoestrogens, had a 30 percent decreased risk of having an invasive tumor -- one that had spread into the breast tissue instead of remaining in the epithelial layer of cells -- and a 60 percent decreased risk of having a grade 1 tumor. The study results also found a potential decreased breast cancer risk associated with specific isoflavones. 

The researchers compared the amount of isoflavones eaten by women without cancer to the amount of isoflavones eaten by women with different breast cancer characteristics. It involved 683 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer and 611 women without a history of breast cancer, all of whom were enrolled in Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Data Bank and BioRepository.  All women completed a questionnaire providing biographic and dietary information.  Data on tumor characteristics of the women with cancer was retrieved from their medical records. 

In addition to findings on isoflavones in general, results of the analysis showed a slight to moderate decrease in cancer risk and tumor characteristics in women in the highest third of specific dietary
isoflavones.