Breast Cancer Awareness Month

[Jacquelinejbae]

What are some foods other than isoflavinoid Tofu, that may prevent BC ?

[bluebutterfly2222]

p.s. Sorry about the typos!  :-(  

I think faster than I type (thank goodness!) and I am not a very good  typist on the best of days (which provides my friends and other readers with some great laughs!), but I had an especially difficult time seeing the tiny print on the small screen I was using when I wrote the post above.

Corrections: "evidence that is widely applicable"
                      "they cannot all be controlled for"
                      "avoidance of smoking and heavy alcohol consumption"
                      "in regard to the prevention of initial, or recurrent, BC"
                      "more than light (1 drink or less per day) use of alcohol"
                      "use of combination (estrogen and progesterone) HRT"
                      "the ACS recommends 45-60 minutes of exercise, 5 or more days per week)"
                      "Adequate, or better yet, a high-normal level of Vit. D"
  bb                    

[bluebutterfly2222]

Soy ( in all its forms), was found in one study of Chinese BC patients, not to PREVENT BC, but to be associated with lower risk of recurrence and reduced mortality. This research needs to be repeated with larger cohorts and possibly with different populations, to be considered conclusive evidence that is widely applicacable. In the meantime, it is being viewed as evidence that soy products are likely to be safe for breast cancer survivors as well as people at high risk for BC.

To my knowledge, no food has been proven to PREVENT BC.  This kind of research is very difficult to conduct, because there are so many variables in people's lives that they cannot all be contolled for, especially over as long a period of time as would be necessary for the experimental condition (the factor being tested) to influence the development of BC in either a positive or negative way. The research is further complicated by the fact that people who are very interested in their health and disease prevention tend to embrace a variety of measures (exercise, weight contol, supplements, improved nutrition, avoidance of smoking, heavy alcohol consumpton, etc.), which makes it all the more difficult to tease out which factors  may have a detrimental or beneficial effect in regard to the prevent of initial, or recurrent, BC.

That said, although women tend to worry most about a family hx of BC, that is only a factor in 10-15% of breast cancers, while it is estimated that  1/3 of breast cancer cases might be prevented with adequate attention to lifestyle choices. Once again, these have not been proven to CAUSE or PREVENT breast cancer, but a considerable amount of evidence has accumulated indicating that they are associated with increased or decreased RISK for BC and/or recurrences..

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED RISK:

Smoking
Low levels of Vit D
Obesity (60% increase in risk)
Sedentary lifestyle
Esp. associated with hormone receptor positive breast cancers:
     Long-term (more than 10 years) estrogen use following hysterectomy
     More than light (1 drink or less per day) of alcohol
     Red meat
Esp. associated with lobular BC:
     Use of comination (estrogen and progestrone) HRT


FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RISK REDUCTION:

Exercise (ACS recomments 45-60 minutes of exercise 5 or more days per week)
Fish oil supplements (32% lower risk of ductal cancer in one large study)
Maintaining normal or close to normal weight (BMI)
Adequate, esp. high-normal level of Vit D
Mediterranean or similar healthful diet

I'm sure there are others, but this is just what I can come up with "off the top of my head." (I'm away from my own computer, where I keep an extensive file of breast cancer research...)

Best wishes...