Originally published October 4 2005
Plant-based estrogens could impact lung tumors
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study in Houston of how diet influences the development of lung tumors suggests that eating fruits and vegetables, both high in phytoestrogens, or plant-based estrogens, could significantly drop a person's chance of contracting lung cancer.
Plant-based estrogens, or phytoestrogens, come in three main classes: isoflavones, lignans and cumestrans, with isoflavones and lignans the most widely seen in nature.
All act as weak estrogens with varying capacities to influence the life and death of cells.
Lignan sources include spinach, broccoli, tea, carrots and rye grains.
"Basically we found that people with lung cancer were less likely to consume these foods," said Matthew Schabath, a postdoctoral fellow specializing in cancer prevention.
"What we saw was quite interesting in terms of protective effects in 'never smokers' and former smokers," Schabath added.
But for reasons that could not be easily explained, benefits were not apparent in current smokers, according to the findings, reported in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers were particularly interested in quantifying dietary intake of specific phytoestrogens.
"Phytoestrogens have a variety of protective effects that have been shown in experimental models [lab animals] and lab models [Petri dishes] to have various chemo-effects," Schabath said.
Schabath defined other effects of weak estrogens as limiting angiogenesis, the growth of blood vessels required by tumors and inducing programmed cell death.
Schabath pointed to Asians who consume robust quantities of phytoestrogens, especially in the form of soy-based foods, as having lower rates of cancer.
But while that may be true for many types of malignancies it is not so for lung cancer, especially in China, where the disease has reached epidemic proportions.
The World Health Organization estimates the number of lung cancer patients in China will increase by 1 million a year through 2025.
A second study in the same issue by researchers in Denmark found that cutting the number of cigarettes smoked daily could reduce lung cancer risk for those who cannot completely break the habit.
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