Soybeans reduce risk of colon cancer

A substance found in soybeans may reduce the risk of colon cancer, a new study shows.

"Soy is known to have a number of health benefits, including the suppression of cancer," said Merrill in a prepared statement. "Based on our results, some of this benefit may be due to a group of molecules known as sphingolipids."

Soy GlcCer is just one of the many types of sphingolipids found in plants and animals. Merrill and colleagues have already shown that milk sphingolipids can suppress tumor formation. But this is the first study, he said, that has established that the sphingolipids of plants - which are structurally different - can also inhibit colon cancer. Other foods rich in sphingolipids are eggs, cheese and wheat flour.

In this study, Merrill's team found that soy GlcCer was able to reduce the number of tumors in both mice with an inherited defect that leads to GI cancer and in mice exposed to a chemical that causes colon cancer. In other words, it was effective in cancer stemming from both genetic and environmental causes.

One feature that makes Merrill's results especially promising is that it didn't take massive doses of soy GlcCer to show an anti-cancer effect. The amounts used in the study were similar to those naturally found in soybeans.

Another result was that unlike many substances that are digested, soy GlcCer survives the journey through the stomach and intestine with enough power to affect cancerous cells in the colon. Ensuring that cancer-fighting substances reach the cells is always a hurdle in any kind of cancer research involving nutritional substances. [cancerfacts.com]

Posted May 2004 | Permanent Link


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