The Power of Prevention, Part 3: Building a BetterBread to Beat Prostate Cancer

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May 18, 2014 10:35 am

Investigators in Ohio State’s cancer program are developing a novel approach to providing soy in the dietfor cancer-prevention studies. They have developed two functional foods – soy bread and soy-almondbread – that are being tested in men with prostate cancer.

Both breads were created by an Ohio State team led by Yael Vodovotz, PhD, a physical chemistryresearcher and food scientist who is a member of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – JamesCancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).

Steven Clinton, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist and researcher at the OSUCCC – James who specializesin treating and preventing prostate cancer, directed the clinical trial involving 32 men with prostate cancerat The James.

Gregory Lesinski, PhD, MPH, a cancer immunologist at the OSUCCC – James, has been evaluating howsoy impacts the immune system in men on the trial. The researchers have completed their laboratoryanalysis and are in the final phases of statistical analysis. They expect to publish their findings by autumn2014.

The investigators are focusing on isoflavones, which are among many different compounds in soy that arestudied for health-promoting properties. OSUCCC – James researchers believe soy may also havebenefits for various cancers, such as prostate cancer.

Since soy is not commonly consumed in the Western diet, the researchers developed novel breads thattaste good and are easily incorporated into the diet. Almonds were added to potentially improve the

anticancer activity of the soy breads.

“Almonds are a rich source of an enzyme that converts the isoflavones in soy to a chemical form that istheoretically better absorbed in the body,” Vodovotz says. “So we added almonds to produce soy breadwith a chemical composition that was better absorbed than our original soy bread.”

For eight weeks, half of the study participants daily consumed three slices of soy bread and half consumedan identical amount of soy-almond bread. Then, after a two-week period of consuming no soy, the groupsswitched bread types and repeated the pattern for another eight weeks.

Clinton says the researchers won’t report preliminary conclusions until sample analysis is complete, butthey do note that study compliance was outstanding and that the bread was easily incorporated into thediet “with very good taste characteristics.”

In addition, Lesinski’s preliminary findings, as presented at national meetings, indicate that soy may haveanti-inflammatory properties that might reduce the risk of certain cancers and may also enhanceanticancer immunity.

The team also observes that the participants show several different patterns in their metabolism of soycomponents. “Our analysis suggests that soy metabolites and their potential to impact cancer risk areinfluenced by other foods you consume and by your genetics,” Clinton says.

“It’s likely that the genes impacting how we respond to anticancer drugs also impact the metabolism ofmany dietary components,” Vodovotz adds. “All of these issues could affect how soy may work to reducecancer risk.”

The researchers are working to commercialize their breads for wider consumption.