BETHESDA, Md., Mar 25, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Asian-American women who ate
higher amounts of soy during childhood had a 58 percent reduced risk of breast
cancer, U.S. researchers said.
"Historically, breast cancer incidence rates have been four to seven times
higher among white women in the United States than in women in China or Japan,"
Regina Ziegler, a senior investigator in the National Cancer Institute Division
of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, said in a statement.
"However, when Asian women migrate to the United States, their breast cancer
risk rises over several generations and reaches that of U.S. white women,
suggesting that modifiable factors, rather than genetics, are responsible for
the international differences. These lifestyle or environmental factors remain
elusive; our study was designed to identify them."
The current study focused on women of Chinese, Japanese or Filipino descent
living in San Francisco; Oakland, Calif.; Los Angeles; or Hawaii.
Researchers interviewed 597 women with breast cancer and 966 healthy women. If
the women had mothers living in the United States, researchers interviewed the
mothers to determine the frequency of soy consumption in childhood.
High intake of soy in childhood was associated with a 58 percent reduction in
breast cancer. A high level of soy intake in the adolescent and adult years was
associated with a 20 to 25 percent reduction.
The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International