Plant Compounds May Reduce Lung Cancer Risk A large chemoprevention study of phytoestrogens - plant-derived compounds found in many foods - has shown that high intake of the compounds decreases the risk of lung cancer. In the September 28 Journal of the American Medical Association, investigators reported that study participants who ate the most phytoestrogens reduced their lung cancer risk by 46 percent compared with those who ate the lowest amount. Dr. Margaret Spitz, the lead investigator of the study at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said that phytoestrogens latch onto estrogen receptors in lung tissue, which, via biomolecular machinery, may explain the reduction in lung cancer risk. But she could not say why women, in general, seemed to benefit less than men from phytoestrogens or why former smokers seemed to benefit less than people who never smoked. Between 1995 and 2003, the research team enrolled 1,674 patients treated for lung cancer and 1,735 healthy controls. The participants answered detailed questions about their diet for the year before their enrollment or their cancer diagnosis. The researchers then analyzed consumption of categories of foods that contain different kinds of phytoestrogens: isoflavones (soybeans and soy products, chickpeas, and red clover), lignans (rye grains, linseeds, carrots, spinach, broccoli, and other vegetables), and coumesterol (beans, peas, clover, spinach, and sprouts). The investigators cautioned that much more research is needed to prove a definitive chemoprevention effect. For example, for reasons not fully understood, high consumption of phytoestrogens did not reduce lung cancer risk in those people studied who had smoked and then quit. "We are just at the beginning of our work to explore the connection between these nutrients and lung cancer risk," said Dr. Spitz. Source NCI Bulletin, October 4, 2005 Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.