Does eating soy help prevent breast cancer?

I have specific concerns about deliberately increased soy consumption for the purpose of helping
prevent breast cancer or its recurrence. Like the editorial conclusion reached by the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition in its review entitled "Phytoestrogens and Breast Cancer" (Ziegler RG. 2004.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, pages 183-184), I do not believe that the research
supports a recommendation for increased intake of soy phytoestrogens by adult women for the
purpose of decreased breast cancer risk.
Some of the most intriguing findings about soybean consumption involve developmental status at the
time of soybean consumption. Regular consumption of soy foods during childhood or early
adolescence appears to be potentially protective in a way that similar levels of consumption during
adulthood are not. This age-dependent character of soy benefits may help explain some of the
contradictory results when breast cancer risk in Asian women who grew up consuming soy foods is
compared to breast cancer risk in U.S. women who did not.
I am concerned that some animal research has shown genistein-one of soy's premier phytoestrogen
isoflavones-to potentially interfere with the activity of tamoxifen, a prescription drug widely used to
help inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells. I am also concerned that some studies in
postmenopausal women show that the soy isoflavones may have potentially detrimental effects when
routinely consumed in deliberately increased amounts. Particularly for women of menopausal age, but
also for all women considering increased soy consumption as a means of reducing breast cancer risk, I
believe that decisions in this area merit the advice of a licensed healthcare practitioner. There's just too
many complications here, and potential variability from individual to individual to proceed in the
absence of professional advice.
References
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review, commentary, and workshop proceedings. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006 Sep 20;98(18):1275-84.
Michels KB, Mohllajee AP, Roset-Bahmanyar E, et al. Diet and breast cancer: a review of the prospective
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Rice S, Whitehead SA. Phytoestrogens and breast cancer--promoters or protectors? Endocr Relat
Cancer 2006 Dec;13(4):995-1015.
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Wu AH, Yu MC, Tseng CC, et al. Epidemiology of soy exposures and breast cancer risk. Br J Cancer
2008 Jan 15;98(1):9-14.
Wuttke W, Jarry H, Seidlova-Wuttke D. Isoflavones--safe food additives or dangerous drugs? Ageing
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