Soy compound may help combat breast and ovarian cancer

Washington, Apr 6 : An oncologist at Tulane University School of Medicine has discovered that a compound found in specially grown soybeans may inhibit tumour growth in advanced breast or ovarian cancer cases.

According to Matthew Burow, associate professor of medicine in the Section of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Tulane, this chemical called glyceollin can successfully fight the growth of estrogen-stimulated breast and ovarian cancers.

For the study, he tested glyceollin on mice implanted with estrogen-dependent ovarian and breast cancer tumors.

It was found that with time, the compound successfully stopped tumor growth by interfering with the tumors' ability to respond to estrogen.

This is considered to be a significant finding because of the lack of effective therapies currently available to women with advanced breast or ovarian cancer, Burow said.

ANI