Soya and lower lung cancer risk

Men who don't smoke and eat a lot of soya may have a lower risk of lung cancer.

Soya contains isoflavones, which act similarly to the hormone oestrogen, and may have anti-cancer qualities in hormone-related cancers of the breast and prostate. Cells in the lung have properties that suggest they may also respond to isoflavones.

Researchers studied more than 36,000 Japanese men and more than 40,000 Japanese women, 45 to 74 years old and free of cancer at the start of the study. They followed the women for about 11 years, after surveying their food intake, smoking status, medical history, and other lifestyle factors between 1995 and 1999. Overall rates of lung cancer were small: 481 men - or about one in 75 - and 178 women, or about one in 225 - were diagnosed during the 11 years of the study. Among the slightly more than 13,000 men who never smoked, there were 22 lung cancer cases among men who ate the least soya, and just 13 lung cancer cases among those who ate the most. Soy intake from food varied widely, from about 34 to about 162 grams per day.

After taking a number of factors into account, the risk halved in the highest versus the lowest soy intake group. There were even fewer lung cancer cases among women, so researchers could draw no conclusions about their risks. The researchers noted that in men it may not be the act of eating soya that lowered lung cancer risk in the men. Men who eat soya are maybe more likely to take part in other activities that may lower the risk, or may be more likely to eat other healthy foods. But they did take many of those factors into account.

However, the current study did not gather data on isoflavone supplement use, nor did it look at exposure second-hand smoking. That means these findings should be confirmed among Japanese and other populations. In other words, the study does not provide enough evidence to suggest a change in eating behavior.

- ndtv doctor