Is there any relationship between consuming soyfoods and the risk of developing colon, lung, ovarian, liver, stomach, esophageal, prostate, or pancreatic cancer or leukemia?
No, there is no human evidence that consumption of soyfoods causes colon, lung, ovarian, liver, stomach, esophageal, prostate, or pancreatic cancers. For colon cancer, overall the research points to a reduced risk in humans, although the reduced risk may be limited to the consumption of unfermented soyfoods. A study on lung cancer found that increased soy consumption by nonsmokers lowered risk for this cancer. Consuming more soy may lower a woman’s risk for ovarian cancer. Also, evidence is growing that soy may in fact reduce risk of prostate cancer. Dr. Wang and others explored the potential mechanism for the impact of soy on pancreatic cancer and found that genistein inhibited activity of some cell nuclear factors; and thus inhibits cell growth and induces apoptotic processes in pancreatic cancer cells. There is also no human evidence linking leukemia to soy consumption. The American Cancer Society confirms that there are no known nutritional risk factors for leukemias or lymphomas.
