10 Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention

SEATTLE, Oct. 1 -- Throughout October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, experts from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and its clinical care partner, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, are offering a series of weekly research-based tip sheets regarding a variety of topics related to breast cancer, including breast cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment, and survivorship.

The series launches today with "10 Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention" provided by Anne McTiernan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Hutchinson Center's Prevention Center, a member of the Center's Public Health Sciences Division, and author of "Breast Fitness" (St. Martin's Press).

10 TIPS FOR BREAST CANCER PREVENTION

1. Avoid becoming overweight. Obesity raises the risk of breast cancer after menopause, the time of life when breast cancer most often occurs. Avoid gaining weight over time, and try to maintain a body-mass index under 25 (calculators can be found online).

2. Eat healthy to avoid tipping the scale. Embrace a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in sugared drinks, refined carbohydrates and fatty foods. Eat lean protein such as fish or chicken breast and eat red meat in moderation, if at all. Eat whole grains. Choose vegetable oils over animal fats.

3. Keep physically active. Research suggests that increased physical activity, even when begun later in life, reduces overall breast-cancer risk by about 10 percent to 30 percent. All it takes is moderate exercise like a 30-minute walk five days a week to get this protective effect.

4. Drink little or no alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Women should limit intake to no more than one drink per day, regardless of the type of alcohol.

5. Avoid hormone replacement therapy. Menopausal hormone therapy increases risk for breast cancer. If you must take hormones to manage menopausal symptoms, avoid those that contain progesterone and limit their use to less than three years. "Bioidentical hormones" and hormonal creams and gels are no safer than prescription hormones and should also be avoided.

6. Consider taking an estrogen-blocking drug. Women with a family history of breast cancer or who are over age 60 should talk to their doctor about the pros and cons of estrogen-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene.

7. Don't smoke. Research suggests that long-term smoking is associated with increased risk of breast cancer in some women. Need help quitting? Consider participating in WebQuit, the Hutchinson Center's online smoking-cessation study. www.webquit.com

8. Breast-feed your babies for as long as possible. Women who breast-feed their babies for at least a year in total have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer later.

9. Participate in a research study. The Hutchinson Center is home to several studies that are looking at ways to reduce the risk for breast cancer. Check our website periodically for studies that might be appropriate for you. Just go to www.fhcrc.org and click on "How You Can Help."

10. Get fit and support breast cancer research at the same time. Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. Ascend some of the world's most breathtaking peaks while raising vital funds for and awareness of breast cancer research by participating in the Hutchinson Center's annual
Climb to Fight Breast Cancer. For more information, visit www.fhcrc.org/climb/.

Source: At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, our interdisciplinary teams of world-renowned scientists and humanitarians work together to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our researchers, including three Nobel laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and passion for health, knowledge and hope to their work and to the world. www.fhcrc.org.

Soy Consumption and Breast Cancer

Cancer itself is an extremely complex process. There is not one type of supplement or food that will necessarily cause or cure cancer. Multiple factors, such as genetics, diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress, chemical and environmental exposure, etc. play a role in whether or not any given woman is going to actually developed breast cancer. In the opinion of this author the evidence presented from studies at this point in time does not justify recommending that breast cancer patients or women with breast cancer risk who enjoying soybeans as a part of their diet stop doing so, nor does it justify recommending that breast cancer patients or high risk women should begin consuming soy for the purpose of preventing cancer reoccurrence or increasing survival rates.

The overall evidence from the studies conducted also showed that supplements containing high levels of isoflavones (a constituent in soy) were the ones indicated in negative outcomes, while actually soybean products (tofu, soy milk, miso) were indicated in the studies with positive outcomes (Mense 2008, Pizorrno 2006). So if you are a women with a family history of breast cancer and are at high risk, you do not need to avoid soy in your diet, but it would be advised not to consumes large amount of supplements made from soy that have high isoflavone content. A little soy in your diet will not be harmful, as long as you keep the basic rule of life in consideration: Everything In Moderation.

The debate on soy consumption and breast cancer is still divided, and there are good standing arguments for both sides. Since soybeans have estrogen like properties (otherwise known as phytoestrogens), they naturally have become a concern to both practitioners and patients alike. A note of caution emerges from animal studies where offspring of genistein-fed (a constituent of soy that is a phytoestrogen) pregnant animals showed an increased risk of developing breast cancer in later life. Genistein appeared to have similar effects to estradiol (a type of estrogen) on the breast tissue and reproductive systems of the offspring (Mense 2008, Pizorrno 2006). On the other hand, studies showed that women who consumed higher amounts of soy products had reduced incidence of hormone-related cancers, including breast cancer.

These studies indicate that the incidence of breast cancer is much lower in Asian women, who consume significantly higher amounts of phytoestrogens than Western women (Adlercreutz 2000). Second- and third-generation descendants of the women who migrated to western countries from Asia have breast cancer risks similar to those of the women in the host country, suggesting that lifestyle and not genetic factors explain the low breast cancer risk observed in Asian women (Probst-Hensch 2000, Usui 2006). However, women in countries like Japan consume soy throughout their lives, which may have a very different effect than first consuming soy only after having been diagnosed with breast cancer. More research in this area remains to be done in order to come to a final conclusion on this debate (Pizorrno 2006).

References

Adlercreutz H. 2002. Phyto-oestrogens and cancer. Lancet Oncol 3(6):364-373.Mense, S M, Hei T K, Ganju R K, Bat, H K. Phytoestrogens and Breast Cancer prevention: Possible mechanism of Action. Environ Health Perspect. 2008;116(4):426-433.Pizzorno J E, Murray M T. Soy Isoflavones and Other Constituents. Text Book of Natural Medicine, Volume I. Missouri: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2006.Probst-Hensch NM, Pike MC, McKean-Cowdin R, Stanczyk FZ, Kolonel LN, Henderson BE. 2000. Ethnic differences in post-menopausal plasma estrogen levels: high oilstone levels in Japanese-American women despite low weight. Br J Cancer 82(11):1867-1870.Usui T. 2006. Pharmaceutical prospects of phytoestrogens. Endocr J 53(1):7-20.

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