Dana-Farber breast cancer expert Dr. Wendy Chen discusses research that indicates eating soy products is safe for breast cancer survivors.
Transcription:
Text: A Conversation About Soy and Breast Cancer patients with Wendy Y. Chen, MD, MPH, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA.
Is Soy helpful or harmful for women with breast cancer?
Dr. Chen: We looked at data among many breast cancer survivors, both from the United States and from Asia, and what we’re looking to see is what soy intake is safe for breast cancer survivors. And what we found is that even who ate a large amount of soy they actually had either the similar or decreased risk of breast cancer recurrence compared to women who didn’t eat soy.
Text: Should Soy be a regular part of the diet of breast cancer patients?
Dr. Chen: As long as it’s dietary soy—food-based soy—that that actually should be safe for women to eat as part of their regular diet, but we wouldn’t recommend that people take soy exclusively in their diet or that they are using forms of processed soy or soy in pill form. This is really for soy in dietary form.
Text: What everyday foods contain Soy?
Dr. Chen: Besides tofu—obviously that’s a very common one—things like miso soup, other forms of what are called isoflavo—phytoestrogens—many of the dark green, leafy vegetables will have—what we call the ‘cruciferous’ vegetables… for instance, things like broccoli and brussels sprouts, spinach and kale—those also have some phytoestrogens in them as well.
Text: What can patients do to reduce their risk of their breast cancer returning?
Dr. Chen: In terms of helping to decrease risk of breast cancer return: eating healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight—all of those things have shown to be helpful to improve survival.
