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Phytoestrogen Consumption May Reduce Lung Cancer Risk
Eating vegetables and other foods that have weak estrogen-like activity appears to reduce the risk of developing lung cancer, researchers at M. D. Anderson have found. The findings were true for both smokers and nonsmokers, said researchers. In the September 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the investigators reported that study participants who ate the highest amount of foods with dietary “phytoestrogens” had a 46% reduced risk of developing lung cancer compared with those who ate the lowest quantity. More than 3,500 people participated in the research—making it the largest case-control study to examine dietary phytoestrogens and lung cancer risk in a U.S. population, according to the researchers. The researchers also found gender-specific benefits for different classes of phytoestrogens. Men who ate the highest amount of soy-isoflavones lowered their risk of developing lung cancer by 72%, and women who ate the most lignan-containing fruit and vegetables by 41%. For women who also used hormone replacement therapy, the protective effect was further enhanced. “What we have found is intriguing and supports a small but growing body of evidence that suggests estrogen-like compounds in food may help protect against development of lung and other cancers,” said the study’s lead author, Matthew Schabath, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Epidemiology. “But these kinds of studies, which rely on a person’s recall of the food they have eaten months before, have known limitations and require more investigation.” “The best cancer prevention advice continues to be to stop smoking, and it is clear that all of us can benefit from healthy eating and exercising,” said the study’s principal investigator, Margaret Spitz, M.D., chair of the Department of Epidemiology. “Still, our results generally show that higher intake of these foods resulted in lower lung cancer risk, and that is certainly a tantalizing preliminary finding.” One of the most intriguing findings, says Dr. Schabath, is that people who had never smoked had a reduced chance of developing the disease if they ate large quantities of phytoestrogen-rich food. “About 15% of lung cancers occur in lifetime ‘never smokers,’ and besides exposures to second-hand smoke, other risk factors for these cancers are yet to be determined.” The study builds on the group’s 2004 finding that women who used hormone replacement therapy had a lower risk of developing lung cancer than women who did not. The researchers wondered if the same might be true of foods that have naturally occurring low levels of estrogens. The researchers then divided consumption into three categories of foods that contain phytoestrogens: isoflavones (soybeans and soy products, chickpeas, and red clover), lignans (rye grains, linseeds, carrots, spinach, broccoli, and other vegetables), and coumestrol (beans, peas, clover, spinach, and sprouts). They then divided consumption of these foods into quartiles, from highest use to lowest use, as measured against all participants. They then compared the two groups, and among their findings were:
For more information on this topic or for questions about M. D. Anderson’s treatments, programs, or services, call askMDAnderson at (877) MDA-6789. Other articles in OncoLog, November 2005 issue:
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