Vol.
5, 901-906,
November
1996
Tofu
Cancer
and
Risk
of Breast
Anna H. Wu,’ Regina
G. Ziegler,
Pamela
L. Horn-Ross,,
Abraham
M. Y. Nomura,
Dee W. West,
Laurence
N. Kolonel,
Jeanne
F. Rosenthal,
Robert
N. Hoover,
and
Malcolm
C. Pike
Department
of Preventive
Medicine,
University
of Southern
California.
Los
Angeles.
Califomia
90033-0800
[A. H. W., M. C. P.]; Environmental
Epidemiology
Branch,
Division
of Cancer
Etiology,
National
Cancer
Institute,
Bethesda,
Maryland
20892
[R. G. Z., R. N. H.]; Northern
California
Cancer
Center,
Union
City, California
94587
[P. L. H-R.,
D. W. W.]; Epidemiology
Program.
Cancer
Research
Center
of Hawaii,
University
of Hawaii.
Honolulu,
Hawaii,
96817
[A. M. Y. N., L. N. K.]; and Westat,
Inc., Rockville,
Maryland
20892 [J. F. R.]
Abstract
Breast
cancer
rates among
Asian-Americans
are lower
than those of US whites
but considerably
higher
than
rates prevailing
in Asia. It is suspected
that migration
to
the US brings
about
a change
in endocrine
function
among
Asian
women,
although
reasons
for this change
remain
obscure.
The high intake
of soy in Asia and its
reduced
intake
among
Asian-Americans
has been
suggested
to partly
explain
the increase
of breast
cancer
rates in Asian-Americans.
We conducted
a population-based
case-control
study
of breast
cancer
among
Chinese-,
Japanese-,
and FilipinoAmerican
women
in Los Angeles
County
MSA,
San
Francisco
Oakland
MSA, and Oahu,
HawaiL
Using a
common
questionnaire
which
assessed
frequency
of intake
of some 90 food items,
597 Asian-American
women
(70%
of those eligible)
diagnosed
with incident,
primary
breast
cancer
during
1983-1987
and 966 population-based
controls
(75% of those eligible)
were interviewed.
Controls
were matched
to cases on age, ethnicity,
and
area of residence.
This analysis
compares
usual adult...