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Soy Isoflavones in the Breast Cancer Risk: From Preclinical Findings to Clinical Strategy

  • Chapter
Critical Dietary Factors in Cancer Chemoprevention

Abstract

There has been considerable interest about the potential of soy products to decrease risk of cancer, in particular cancer of the breast. Soy products are a unique dietary source of isoflavones, which bind to estrogen receptors and exhibit weak estrogen-like effects under certain experimental conditions. Based mostly on in vitro and rodent results, the relationship between soy foods/isoflavone supplements and breast cancer has become controversial. Several research groups observed that soy isoflavones may promote the growth of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells, and in this regard, it is essential to evaluate the relevance of the preclinical data to the human disease. On the other hand, there are only limited clinical results with no evidence that soy isoflavones increase breast cancer risk in healthy women or worsen the prognosis of breast cancer patients. The epidemiologic data are generally consistent with the clinical results, with no association between increased breast cancer risk and regular consumption of soy products. It is important to determine if and when isoflavones are beneficial or detrimental in breast cancer patients and identify their role in the molecular mechanisms of mammary carcinogenesis.

This book chapter focuses on the biological effects of soy isoflavones in breast tissue, as well as preclinical research and clinical/epidemiologic data with recommendations required in human investigation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Scientific Grant Agency of the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic (No. VEGA 11/0322/14 and VEGA 1/0071/13) and by the grant FNUSA-ICRC (No. CZ.1.05/1.1.00/02.0123) co-funded from EU sources and European Regional Development Fund. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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  1. Jessenius Faculty of Medicine in Martin, Department of Medical Biology, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    P. Kubatka & M. Péč

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, P. J. Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic

    J. Mojžiš & M. Pilátová

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, International Clinical Research Centre, St. Anne’s University Hospital and Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    P. Kruzliak

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  1. Prince Fahd Research Chair, Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, FAMS, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

    Mohammad Fahad Ullah

  2. Department of Pathology, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA

    Aamir Ahmad

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Kubatka, P., Mojžiš, J., Pilátová, M., Péč, M., Kruzliak, P. (2016). Soy Isoflavones in the Breast Cancer Risk: From Preclinical Findings to Clinical Strategy. In: Ullah, M., Ahmad, A. (eds) Critical Dietary Factors in Cancer Chemoprevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21461-0_10

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