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Xenoestrogens and cancer
My friend is suffering from oestrogen-sensitive metastatic breast cancer and is being treated with an oestrogen-blocking medicine, which seems to be working. What I want to know is: is it true that xenoestrogens from plastic food containers or wrappings pose a cancer risk? Also, should she avoid foods, such as soya, which have a high phytoestrogen content and which women are advised to take to replace declining oestrogen levels during menopause?
It is true that the xenoestrogens that are now widespread in our environment and our food chain have also been found to be present in higher levels in the breast fat and bloodstreams of women who have had breast cancer than those who have not.
Xenoestrogens are oestrogen-like compunds found in everyday products as diverse as herbicides and plastic bottles. They are fat-soluble, which means they are stored not only in fat cells, but in the membranes of all cells since these themselves are made up of layers of fat.
The oestrogenic chemical in plastic bottles is called bisphenol-A. The action of this contaminant, which is believed to leech out of the plastic, was first discovered in the early 1990s when men working in the industry producing these bottles began to develop prominent breast tissue. They were inhaling the chemical in dust and, although researchers still cannot explain the mechanism of this contamination, there is no dout that it is a risk that the British Plastics Federation will continue to deny.
Polyvinylchloride or PVC is an established carcinogen and yet is also used in food packaging and plastics. Improved manufacturing techniques have been deployed to try and prevent these chemicals from leeching out but at high temperatures, say in a microwave, the migration speeds up. (This is just one reason why microwave cooking is banned in my house.)
As for the second part of your question, eating soya during menopause does not increase any risk of cancer and in fact, the isoflavones in soya can block the formation of the new blood vessels that a cancer tumour depends on for its survival. There is also no contraindication for anyone taking tamoxifen.That said, your friend should definitely avoid soya if she is having radiation therapy since it works in the body to make the cells more resistant to this treatment.
* To learn more about Phytoestrogens read The Phyto Factor by Maryon Stewart, founder of the Women’s Nutritional Advisory Service (01273-487366). It is published by Vermillion in paperback and costs £8.99.