Soybean Derivative May Help Prevent Oral Cancer

A study of 32 subjects with precancerous lesions in their mouth has demonstrated that in ten of the subjects a daily dose for one month of a chemical derived from soybeans reduced the size of the lesions by about half. The study, conducted by a team of scientists at the University of California, Irvine (USA), was published in the December 2000 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.

Oral cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers. Only about half of all patients diagnosed with oral cancer are alive five years later. About 75% of cases are attributed to the use of tobacco, particularly smokeless tobacco. Use of tobacco can result in precancerous lesions called leukoplakia, which can lead to cancer. The soybean derivative studied is a chemical called the Bowman-Birk inhibitor. The chemical was first identified by chemists almost four decades ago, according to the researchers.

"The best way to cure cancer is to prevent cancer, and we are encouraged by the fact that a simple dose of a chemical was able to achieve this without side effects,” said Dr. Frank Meyskens, director of the university cancer center and a leader of the research team.



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