Soy foods help reduce breast cancer recurrence

Overturning prevalent suggestions that breast cancer patients should not to eat soy foods, new research has found that long-term consumption of these foods actually reduces the risk of the disease recurring.

“This work suggests it is okay to continue consuming soy foods during breast cancer treatment,” said Leena Hilakivi-Clarke.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer are often told not to eat soy foods or soy-based supplements because they can interfere with anti-estrogen treatment.

The notion that soy, specifically genistein (an isoflavone), can stimulate the growth of breast cancer cells and disrupt anti-estrogen treatment has been based on studies in mice that do not have immune cells known as cytotoxic T cells, known to attack breast cancer.

This led oncologists to advise their breast cancer patients not to eat soy foods.