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Cited by 224Phytoestrogen effects and researchNutritional Studies and DietCancer Risks and Factors

Adolescent and adult soy food intake and breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Women’s Health Study

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Lee, Sang-Ah, Shu, Xiao-Ou, Li, Honglan, Yang, Gong, Cai, Hui, Wen, Wanqing, Ji, Bu-Tian, Gao, Jing +2 more·2009·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
DOI 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27361PMC PMC2683002
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Abstract

Background Soy food is a rich source of isoflavones--a class of phytoestrogens that has both antiestrogenic and anticarcinogenic properties. Objective The objective was to evaluate the association of adolescent and adult soy food intake with breast cancer risk in a cohort of 73,223 Chinese women who participated in the Shanghai Women's Health Study. Design A validated food-frequency questionnaire was used to assess usual dietary intake during adulthood and adolescence. After a mean follow-up of 7.4 y, 592 incident cases of breast cancer were identified for longitudinal analyses by using Cox regressions. Results Adult soy food consumption, measured either by soy protein or isoflavone intake, was inversely associated with the risk of premenopausal breast cancer, and the association was highly statistically significant (P for trend < 0.001). The multivariate-adjusted relative risks (RRs) for the upper intake quintile compared with the lowest quintile were 0.41 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.70) for soy protein intake and 0.44 (95% CI: 0.26, 0.73) for isoflavone intake. High intake of soy foods during adolescence was also associated with a reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer (RR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.97). Women who consumed a high amount of soy foods consistently during adolescence and adulthood had a substantially reduced risk of breast cancer. No significant association with soy food consumption was found for postmenopausal breast cancer. Conclusion This large, population-based, prospective cohort study provides strong evidence of a protective effect of soy food intake against premenopausal breast cancer.

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  • Of 11 prospective cohort studies reporting on risk of primary breast cancer, one (9%) showed soy isoflavone intake was associated with overall reduced risk, while the remaining studies showed no associations.

    “Of 11 studies reporting on risk of primary breast cancer, one (9%) showed that soy isoflavone intake was associated with overall reduced risk of breast cancer [116], while the remaining studies showed no associations [99,104,105,107-109,111,113-115,117].”

    From Soy, Red Clover, and Isoflavones and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review (2013) · cites this paper as [109]

    The Results (Table 2) report an inverse association between isoflavone intake and overall breast cancer risk, but the overall trend was not statistically significant. The Abstract reports a significant reduction specifically for premenopausal breast cancer, not for breast cancer overall. This source therefore supports a reduced-risk finding only with that narrower qualification. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Soy consumption may protect against the development of breast cancer, and less so against breast cancer recurrence and mortality, although this is based on observational data only.

    “Our review suggests that on the contrary, soy consumption may protect against the development of breast cancer [46,75,109,117], and less so, breast cancer recurrence and mortality [106,112], although this is based on observational data only.”

    From Soy, Red Clover, and Isoflavones and Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review (2013) · cites this paper as [109]

    The Results reported in the Abstract and the Discussion’s summary find an inverse association between soy intake and new breast cancer cases in premenopausal Chinese women. The paper found no significant association for postmenopausal breast cancer, so it does not support the claim without that population qualifier. The separate citations following recurrence and mortality do not attribute those outcomes to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Lee, S.-A., Shu, X.-O., Li, H., Yang, G., Cai, H., Wen, W., Ji, B.-T., Gao, J., Gao, Y.-T., & Zheng, W.
Affiliations
Kangwon National University (KR)
Corresponding author
Zheng, Wei
ORCID
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-06
Volume
89
Issue
6
Pages
1920-1926
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3945/ajcn.2008.27361
PMC
PMC2683002
OpenAlex
W2166151601
Cited by
224
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 19
FWCI
16.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Cancer Institute (R01CA070867)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Phytoestrogen effects and research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer Risks and Factors
Keywords
breast cancer risk, isoflavones, phytoestrogens, soy protein, premenopausal breast cancer, adolescent diet, dietary intake, Shanghai Women's Health Study, Chinese women
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic, Breast Neoplasms, China, Diet Surveys, Female, Humans, Isoflavones, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Glycine max, Cohort Studies, Incidence, Proportional Hazards Models, Premenopause, Soybean Proteins, Soy Foods, Phytoestrogens

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