Soy food diet linked to lung cancer survival in women

Women who eat lots of soy food such as tofu prior to being diagnosed with lung cancer are more likely to live longer than those who consume less.
This is according to new research conducted by a team of scientists at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, Nashville and the Shanghai Cancer Institute, which stated a soy-rich diet could have a significant impact on cancer survival.
Of the 74,941 Chinese females who were evaluated over more than a decade, 444 were diagnosed with lung cancer and those who had a history of eating lots of soy foods were 20 per cent more likely to be alive 12 months after diagnosis.
Dr Gong Yang, research associate professor of medcine in the division of epidemiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, said: “This is the first study to suggest an association between soy food consumption and lung cancer survival.”
The positive effects of soy food were more pronounced among participants in the trial who had never smoked.
Lung cancer is currently the most common form of cancer among women in the US and worldwide, with a five-year survival rate standing at just 15 per cent.