Food Standards Agency
Thursday 2 July 2009
Safer food better business banner
AZ-Directory
What's NewRSS
What is RSS?Listen
Listen to this siteWednesday 14 July 2004
This research project aims to determine whether phytoestrogens can influence the development of breast cancer.
Study Duration : November 1999 to June 2003
Contractor : University of Birmingham
The hormone oestrogen may influence the development of certain types of cancer such as breast cancer. This project aims to determine whether phytoestrogens can influence the development of breast cancer by altering the activity of oestrogen and its metabolites.
The effects of phytoestrogens on oestrogen metabolism in normal and cancerous cells from human breast tissue will be measured. A dietary trial will also investigate the effects of supplementing the diet with soya milk (which is rich in the phytoestrogens genistein and daidzein) for one week on oestrogen metabolism in a group of female volunteers (80 people with a genetic susceptibility to breast cancer and 80 other people as controls).
Several phytoestrogens were found to inhibit the metabolism of active oestrogen to its inactive form in the human cells. Genistein, daidzein and equol were relatively potent, although the other phytoestrogens only produced effects when present at levels that were much higher than those that would be found in the body from normal dietary intake.
Analysis of blood samples showed that consumption of soya milk also inhibited the metabolism of active oestrogen to its inactive form in women from both the group with a genetic susceptibility to breast cancer and the control group.
Overall, the results suggest that phytoestrogens might prevent the metabolism of active oestrogen, which is thought to be capable of promoting early breast tumours, to its inactive form. However, further work in this area would be required to establish whether this is the case.
The results of this project were evaluated by the Committee on Toxicity as part of its review on phytoestrogens and health (see link below).
Final report is available from the FSA Library and Information centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk,
Dr Elsie Widdowson Library and Information Services, Food Standards Agency, (tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email:
infocentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
).
Publications:
Kirk, C.J., Harris, R.M., Wood, D.M., Waring, R.H. and Hughes, P.J. (2001). Do dietary phytoestrogens influence susceptibility to hormone-dependent cancer by disrupting metabolism of endogenous oestrogens? Biochemical Society Transactions 29 , 210-216.
Harris, R.M., Wood, D.M., Bottomley, L., Blagg, S., Owen, K., Hughes, P.J., Waring, R.H. and Kirk, C.J. (2004). Phytoestrogens are potent inhibitors of estrogen sulfation: implications for breast cancer risk and treatment. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 89 , 1779-87.
Kirk, C. J., Bottomley, L., Minican, N., Carpenter, H., Shaw, S., Kohli, N., Winter, M., Taylor, E. W., Waring, R. H., Michelangeli, F. and Harris, R. M. (2003) Environmental endocrine disrupters dysregulate estrogen metabolism and Ca2+ homeostasis in fish and mammals via
receptor-independent mechanisms. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology
135
, 1 - 8.
Khan, S.J., Kirk, C.J. and Michelangeli, F. (2003) Alkylphenol endocrine disrupters inhibit IP3-sensitive Ca2+ channels. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 310 , 261-266.
Harris, R.M., Hughes, P.J., Kirk, C.J. and Waring, R.H. (2001) Sulphotransferase inhibition by daidzein and genistein: a role in human health. "Soy & Health 2000" (Eds. K. Desheemaeker & I. Debruyne), Garant Publishers (Leuven - Apeldoorn), 82.
Kirk, C.J., Harris, R.M., Wood, D.M., Hughes, P.J., Anderson, D., Rea, D. and Waring, R.H. (2001) Do dietary phytoestrogens influence susceptibility to breast cancer by inhibiting sulphotransferase enzymes? Abstract to European Commission HEALFO Conference, Lanciano, Italy, Meta srl - Lanciano, pp.82.
Kirk, C.J., Harris, R.M., Wood, D.M., Bottomley, L., Rea, D.W., Hughes, P.J. and Waring, R.H. (2002) Environmental oestrogens: their role in testicular dysgenesis and hormone-dependent cancers. Comparative Biochemistry & Physiology 132 , S2
Harris, R.M., Pettitt, T., Wood, D.M., Bottomley, L., Ayres, S., Rea, D.W., Kirk, C.J. and Waring, R.H. (2004) Plasma levels of free daidzein and genistein are not affected by a high soy milk diet. Cancer Detection and Prevention Prev. 28 , S131-S132.
Presentations:
672nd Biochemical Society (UK) Meeting, Brighton. (2000)
Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting, Swansea. (2002)
Joint meeting of the BIMDG Dietitians Group and the Galactosaemia Support Group Medical Advisory Panel. (2003)
Contact
: For any enquiries concerning this research project, please contact the relevant Programme contact or email
science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
Download pdf
(pdf 1MB) (External) Get Adobe Acrobat reader You may need the free Acrobat Reader to view a pdfFind out what our other sites have to offer