UK Scientists Eye Soy-Based Drug to Combat Cancer

UK scientists on Tuesday said they are looking at new ways of using soybeans as the key weapon to combat breast cancer.

Recent studies have shown that women who eat soy-rich foods have a lower chance of developing breast cancer, but scientists have found it hard to harness the parts of the soybean thought to be most useful, isoflavones. “There are few drugs based on isoflavones available for clinical use and there are good reasons for this,” Dr Karen James of the University of Portsmouth in England said. “Isoflavones are not very potent and they are rapidly metabolized in the body. While a lifetime of low doses in the diet might be beneficial, developing a drug therapy requires a new approach,” she added. But James said her department was now looking at ways of making isoflavones stay longer in the body. The scientist said they had already tested the effect of soy-based compounds on the growth of breast cancer cells and found they reduced cell growth at higher doses. SOY MAY STOP OTHER CANCER FORMS A study published last week by scientists at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland suggested breast cancer could be reduced by eating more soy-rich food. Researchers in the United States have also said eating soy could help prevent men from developing prostate cancer and from going bald.(Source: Reuters HEalth News: September 2004.)