Thursday Nov 26, 2015 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new Chinese study suggests that eating lots of soy foods like tofu may help reduce risk of prostate cancer.

The study of 100 Chinese men with or without prostate cancer shows men with genistein, a component from soy protein, at a level higher than the median were 65% less likely to develop prostate cancer, than those at a level lower than the median.

The median plasma genistein concentration in patients without prostate cancer was 728.6 ng/ml, compared to 513.0 ng/ml in those with prostate cancer.  

Previous studies have already revealed the association of high intake of genistein with lower risk of developing prostate cancer and dying from the disease.

Genistein is a metabolite from soy protein.  Eating soy gets you genistein in your system.  But genistein supplements are also available if you want genistein but do not want to eat soy.

In addition to genistein, soy isoflavones also include daidzein and glycitein.  It has been reported that soy isoflavones which is estrogenic can have a desired effect on cell cycle control, apoptosis, angiogenenis and metastasis.[2]

[1] Yishuo Wu, Limin Zhang, Rong Na, Jianfeng Xu, Zuquan Xiong, Ning Zhang, Wanjun Dai, Haowen Jiang , Qiang Ding,  Plasma genistein and risk of prostate cancer in Chinese population, International Urology and Nephrology, June 2015, Volume 47, Issue 6, pp 965-970

[2]  Seher Karsli-Ceppioglu, Marjolaine Ngollo, Gaëlle Judes, Frédérique Penault-LLorca, Yves-Jean Bignon, Laurent Guy, Dominique Bernard-Gallon,  Chapter Eight – The Role of Soy Phytoestrogens on Genetic and Epigenetic Mechanisms of Prostate Cancer,  The Enzymes, Volume 37, 2015, Pages 193–221