One reason to be hopeful about combating breast cancer is a vaccine to prevent breast cancer, which is being worked on by Dr. Vincent Tuohy, an auto immunologist at the Cleveland Clinic. In tests carried out upon mice, the vaccine showed a hundred percent ability to prevent cancer.

soy on breast cancerIn Dr Tuohy’s study, mice were genetically programmed to develop breast tumor. Those genetically engineered mice who were given this vaccine did not develop tumors; whereas those who were not given the vaccine all went on to develop tumors.

In other breast cancer related news, the impact of soy on breast cancer is being re-examined. On the one hand there is the understanding that soy contains certain chemicals called isoflavones that mimic the effects of estrogen in the body and this raise estrogen levels in the body, raising breast cancer risk.

On the other hand however, cultures that traditionally have a lot of soy in their diets, such as the Chinese, are seen to have a far lower incidence of breast cancer when compared to western women.

It is in fact the form in which soy is eaten is important – it should be minimally processed and refined. It should be eaten in as natural a state as possible and as part of a well balanced diet.