Be aware! Soy supplements with isoflavones may “reprogram” breast cancer cells.

A reason you might want to avoid soy protein isolates and soy supplements.

Women with estrogen-responsive breast cancer who consume soy protein supplements containing isoflavones to alleviate the side effects of menopause may be accelerating progression of their cancer, changing it from a treatable subtype to a more aggressive, less treatable form of the disease, new research suggests.

The study, published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, raises troubling questions about the safety and the potential health consequences associated with long-term use of dietary supplements containing soy isoflavones, such as the phytoestrogen genistein.

Scientists at the Univ. of Illinois, Virginia Polytechnic and State Univ. and the National Center for Toxicological Research collaborated on the research. Three preclinical animal studies using mice examined the response of estrogen-dependent breast cancer cells to estradiol and to several levels of genistein delivered in purified forms (500 and 700 ppm) and as soy protein isolate (180 ppm).

The genistein blood levels found in the mice were similar to the serum concentrations found in women whose diets are high in isoflavones.

The soy protein isolate had the natural level of isoflavones found in many commercial protein supplements sold in grocery stores and nutrition shops, said co-author Juan Andrade, who is a prof. of food science and human nutrition at Illinois.

Estradiol and all three genistein concentrations stimulated tumor growth in mice, but when the estradiol implants and higher-dose dietary genistein (750 ppm) were removed, the tumors regressed completely.

Tumors also regressed in the mice that consumed the lower dose (500 ppm) of genistein, but the regression terminated with the tumors at significantly larger sizes than those in the control group.

In the group that consumed soy protein isolate, tumor regression did not occur during the withdrawal phase—instead, the breast cancer cells continued to grow.

“The lower dose of genistein actually does something that is potentially problematic,” said co-author William Helferich, who is a prof. in the same department. “A very low dose of genistein effectively reprograms the tumor cells from estrogen-dependent to estrogen independent, converting them into a tumor that no longer needs estrogen to grow and will not respond to many of the current anti-estrogen therapies.”

After analyzing gene expression markers, the authors speculate that long-term consumption of the lower dose of genistein elicited changes in the breast cancer cells that reprogrammed them from luminal subtype A—the most common and treatable type of breast cancer—to luminal subtype B, a more aggressive and rapidly growing type of tumor that has a poorer prognosis.

The tumors in the mice on the low-dose (500 ppm) genistein diet and the soy protein isolate diet also showed increased expression of the oncoprotein epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).

HER2 expression, which occurs in 20 to 25% of breast cancer patients, correlates to a poor prognosis because it is associated with endocrine resistance and with higher-grade tumors that proliferate more quickly.

Early epidemiological studies associated whole-soy food consumption with myriad health benefits related to menopause, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis and with lower rates of breast cancer among Asian populations.

More recent findings from isoflavone supplement studies have been mixed, with some researchers suggesting that supplements containing genistein, including soy protein isolates, may have negative effects on estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer.

In a 2004 study published in Carcinogenesis, Helferich and his
co-authors found that soy flour contained biologically active compounds that appeared to greatly inhibit genistein’s impact on tumor growth.

“Lifelong consumption of mostly whole-soybean foods such as tofu, tempeh, etc. as is consumed in Asia is probably healthy and protective because Asian populations consume soy as a complex mixture of bioactive compounds and do so throughout their lifetimes,” Helferich said. “However, the way that we consume soy in the West—through highly enriched isoflavones-containing extracts or as dietary supplements, usually later in life—is probably not going to produce the same effects.”

The findings of the current study are particularly troubling because they suggest that dietary quantities of soy foods – rather than the highly enriched isoflavone-containing extracts and pure compounds often found in dietary estrogenic supplements for women—may have serious consequences for certain populations, especially breast cancer patients, Helferich said.

Source: News Bureau Illinois

Higher vitamin D levels correlated with improved breast cancer prognosis.

An article published online on October 9, 2013 in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment found a link between higher levels of serum vitamin D and improved prognosis in women with early stage breast cancer.
When the lowest versus highest categories of serum vitamin D were compared in a pooled analysis, women whose levels were low had a risk of recurrence that was more than double that of subjects whose levels were high and a risk of death that was 76% higher. 
The authors point out that vitamin D, when activated, can alter the transcription and expression of specific genes, resulting in growth arrest, apoptosis, aromatase suppression, decreased inflammation, and inhibition of angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis, all of which help combat cancer. A measurement of vitamin D at your next checkup will help you determine your level, and if it is below 30 ng/ml a higher level of supplementation should be considered. Be sure your vitamin D is vitamin D3 cholecalciferol and not the less active vitamin D2 ergocalciferol.

Reduce breast cancer risk with exercise.

This study investigated the relationship between recreational physical activity (RPA) and breast cancer risk in a population-based sample of 1504 cases (n = 233 in situ, n = 1271 invasive) and 1555 controls from the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project, in Long Island, New York. The results showed 10-19 hours per week of RPA at any intensity level during the reproductive and postmenopausal years has the greatest benefit for reducing breast cancer risk. However, substantial postmenopausal weight gain may eliminate the benefits of regular activity. The authors conclude "Collectively, these results suggest that women can still reduce their breast cancer risk later in life by maintaining their weight and engaging in moderate amounts of activity".

Note: 10-19 hours a week had the greatest benefit...we need to get out and play more!

McCullough LE, Eng SM, Bradshaw PT, Cleveland RJ, Teitelbaum SL, Neugut AI, Gammon MD. Fat or fit: The joint effects of physical activity, weight gain, and body size on breast cancer risk. Cancer. 2012 Jun 25. [Epub ahead of print]

Multivitamin Use Improves Survival rate in Breast Cancer Patients

Breast cancer patients who take multivitamins with minerals are less likely to have disease recurrence than patients who do not take multivitamins with minerals, according to new data.

The routine use of multivitamins with minerals also appears to be associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer–specific and overall death.

Findings of the prospective Life After Cancer Epidemiology study were reported by Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, who is a naturopathic physician and assistant professor of epidemiology and medical oncology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

Her group analyzed questionnaires completed by 2239 women diagnosed with a first primary early-stage breast cancer between 1997 and 2000.

“Many women diagnosed with breast cancer have questions about what lifestyle changes they can make to improve their prognosis as a breast cancer survivor, including whether taking vitamin supplements can reduce adverse side effects from treatment, decrease their risk of recurrence, and improve survival,” Greenlee pointed out.

Compared with healthy women, breast cancer patients appear to be more frequent users of multivitamins and vitamin/mineral supplements, she added. In fact, data from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey show ed that 57% to 62% of women with breast cancer use multivitamins compared with only 38% of healthy women.

“To date, no studies have examined the association between multivitamin use either pre- and/or postdiagnosis and the risk of breast cancer recurrence and death,” she said.

Of the study population, there were 363 breast cancer recurrences, 202 deaths from breast cancer, and 372 deaths overall, as of May 7, 2010.

Forty-four percent of patients reportedly took multivitamins with minerals at least three times a week for at least 12 months during the 5 years before they had been diagnosed with breast cancer. After diagnosis, 60% of women reported using multivitamins with minerals. In the study, women who were categorized as having used multivitamins and minerals after their diagnosis had to have taken them at least three times a week for at least 1 year after their diagnosis.

Women who reported that they had continually taken multivitamins with minerals before their diagnosis and continuing afterward were 31% less likely to have a disease recurrence than women who said that they had never taken multivitamins with minerals. They were also 47% less likely to die of breast cancer and 27% less likely to die of any cause.

Further analysis revealed that the protective associations occurred only in women who had undergone radiation and hormone therapy.

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Red Wine protective against breast cancer!

This is certainly good news for those who love the darker grapes. For years we've been hearing that alcohol raises a woman's risk of breast cancer due to the lift in estrogen that happens when we drink. Turns out if we like red wine we have protection...not increased risk. It has to do with aromatase.

Previous research has suggested that all alcoholic beverages increase the risk of breast cancer since they activate the aromatase enzyme (responsible for a key step in the production of estrogens from androgens).

By comparing levels of important hormones in people consuming a moderate amount of red and white wine daily, this new study investigated whether red wine

consumption was associated with hormonal changes that may reduce the risk of breast cancer .

The researchers found that red wine consumption was associated with increased free testosterone and lower levels of female sex hormones.

Their findings suggest that components in red wine act as aromatase inhibitors, which challenge the wide-held belief that all types of alcohol increase the risk of developing breast cancer.

So women at risk of breast cancer who enjoy having the occasional cocktail, may find some relief in this study, as long as they stick to red wine.

Here's the study:

Red Versus White Wine as a Nutritional Aromatase Inhibitor in Premenopausal Women

More evidence that red wine is healthier than other wines and drinks? The amount of alcohol and certain unique substances that are present in the red wine helps it to increase the “good” cholesterol and also prevents the artery, blood vessels that carry blood from the heart, from damage. Antioxidants, like flavonoids and resveratrol certainly have heart healthy effects and these are present in red wine!