Soy nutrients have also been shown to inhibit growth of human colon cancer cells in the laboratory culture dish. They wanted to evaluate the relationship between soy product intake and mortality from several types of cancer and heart disease. Age-standardized mortality rates for heart disease and stomach, colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancer were obtained from the National Vital Statistics. Information on major nutrient and soy product intake was obtained from the National Nutritional Survey Report. Scientists at the University of California at Irvine said their study is believed to be one of the first findings, based on human research, showing that the soybean derivative can play such a role in oral cancer prevention.
Oral cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers.
The soybean derivative studied is a chemical scientists call the Bowman- Birk inhibitor. The chemical was first identified by chemists almost four decades ago, but now the team of California scientists has determined that it can reduce the size of pre-cancerous lesions in the mouth which can lead to oral cancer. The pre-cancerous lesions in the mouth are called oral leukoplakia. The study, led by Dr. Meyskens and Dr. William Armstrong, an assistant professor of head and neck surgery at the university, was published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. Ten of the participants showed a reduction in the size of the pre-cancerous lesions by about half.