Estrogen

bexybexy
bexybexy Member Posts: 151
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Forgive me if I found stupid here just a question. If you have DCIS as I do, does all the stuff about estrogen sensitive cancers apply still? I know dcis is cancer but it is not invasive so am confused about estrogen. Nothing was mentioned about estrogen when I was given my diagnosis.

I ask because of soya which I do consume quite a lot. The whole issue is just baffling, if my DCIS has no relation to estrogen my consumption of soya wouldn't matter.

I watched a programme on channel 4 (Uk tv) this evening and a woman was suffering with hot flushes. She told the programme doctors that she couldn't take HRT due to having had a mammogram and discovering a lump. She didn't elaborate on this, though it must have all been treated ok as she was well, but they advised her to include lots of soya in her diet. They said it was right that she was advised not to have HRT as anyone who has had estrogen issues shouldn't but were recommending plant sources of estrogen which they said were fine as they were natural. I just thought soya had to be used cautiously yet they didn't seem to set any limits and seemed be telling her to eat as much as she liked.

I really need to know all this and am so frustrated at how hard it is to find out and how inconclusive and conflicting the studies on soya are!

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  • ej01
    ej01 Member Posts: 155
    edited December 2011

    In your pathology report, they usually indicate if your are ER+ (estrogen receptor positive).  If you are you estrogen feeds the cancer.   There is some controversy about soy and the estrogen-like properties it has.  From what I have read, even if you are ER+ foods with 'regular' soy in them (soy milk, edamame, soy beans, etc) should be OK.  They are concerned about the more concentrated suppliments and food additives with higher concentrations..

    It is very confusing....i agree.

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  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited December 2011

      

    DCIS is the exact same breast cancer as invasive breast cancer, it just hasn't developed to the same point yet. The difference for those with DCIS vs. those with IDC is simply that those with DCIS were fortunate that their cancer was caught sooner.  Therefore whatever may be the causes of invasive cancer could also be the causes of DCIS. And all the future risks and precautions that come along with having invasive cancer also come along with having DCIS (except of course for the risk of distant recurrence). 

    So if you had ER+ DCIS, then yes, all the same concerns apply with regard to estrogen. 

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  • bexybexy
    bexybexy Member Posts: 151
    edited December 2011

    Thanks Beesie. I have scanned my report and nothing was on there about ER+ so I am sure it can't be the case. I read it all through and unless they have worded it in a certain way I definately couldn't see anything .Also my mum asked him about not having dairy (she has always been concerned about me being vegan) and he said it wasn't an issue. I think had it been ER+ he would of said something about soya, or at least talked about things like the pill, HRT etc all things that in the future I would have to be careful about.

     ej01 yes you are right it is confusing! I agree with what you say about having soya in food form and a purer form i.e beans, tofu etc...supplements give you way too much of it. Also I am not staying away from any modified and processed soya. It just seemed weird that the doctors on this tv programme were recommending it perhaps they should of mentioned that there is some controversy surrounding soya, otherwise this woman thinking that soya is great for the menopause (which it clearly did work for her in alleviating her symptoms) may then rush out and buy soya supplements and overdose on it. Even the Vegan Society which I am a member of advise people to have 2 servings of soya a day, but I myself went overboard on it up until now.

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  • redsox
    redsox Member Posts: 523
    edited December 2011

    Testing for the hormone receptors takes longer so my initial path report did not contain that information.  ER+ and PR+ came in a later update to the path report. 

    It is worth asking the doctor about it. 

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  • bexybexy
    bexybexy Member Posts: 151
    edited December 2011

    Yes I will do that I think thankyou

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  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited December 2011

    Dairy and soy are two different issues.  Some time ago there was a thread in the Alternate Forum that discussed both soy and dairy.  The discussion focused on how bad dairy is and how dairy needs to be avoided by those who have breast cancer.  That had me concerned because I eat a lot of dairy. So I starting digging around.  I couldn't find anything to suggest that dairy is a problem.  I found one article that reviewed all the studies that had been done on dairy and breast cancer over the previous 25 years (or something like that) and they concluded that there was no negative relationship.  Any relationship found between dairy and breast cancer was actually a positive one, in that it appears that dietary calcium may be protective against breast cancer. That's not what a lot of people believe but most of the negative beliefs about dairy stem from the writings of one individual (Dr. Jane Plant).  

    With soy it's a lot less clear.  Being ER+, my oncologist told me that I should avoid large intakes of soy and I could avoid processed/unnatural soy, but I shouldn't worry about the small amounts of soy that are in so many products and I shouldn't worry about the occasional consumption of soy products.  Given that the results are uncertain, that approach seems reasonable to me. 

    Here's a link to the earlier thread that I was referring to, where I posted the information on the studies that I found about dairy and breast cancer:  http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topic/764006?page=5

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  • bexybexy
    bexybexy Member Posts: 151
    edited December 2011

    I can understand that having read it thankyou. I agree that there is not enough evidence, the problem for me is I am vegan for ethical reasons and cannot and will not go back to dairy. However there are so many alternatives out there that I am spoilt for choice. Because I drink a lot of milk I stay away from soya milk now and have rice milk. However I will carry on having 2 to 3 portions of natural soya products i.e tofu a week, as otherwise it is difficult to know what to eat! I just won't be having any soya burgers etc, and sadly soya protein isolate (very processed soya) is in meat products too it just seems to be used as a cheap bulking filler.

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  • ZTeam
    ZTeam Member Posts: 44
    edited December 2011

    Hi Bexybexy,

    I'm in the same boat as you - vegan and dcis. Plus, my DCIS was ER+. I saw a naturopath and asked about soy and he said that eating it a few times a week was fine. He said he would have been concerned if I was eating it at every meal.

    I eat very little processed food, so when I do have soy it's usually organic tempeh or tofu. I was told by my nutritionist that the quality of soy varies a lot by brand and that I should only buy organic soy.

    Feel free to pm if you want more info.

    Best,

    Lisa 

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  • bexybexy
    bexybexy Member Posts: 151
    edited December 2011

    That would be lovely Lisa I will do that xxx

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited December 2011

    Bexy, beans have a lot of protein.  Could you increase your intake of that to help?  There are so many great recipes.  

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  • bexybexy
    bexybexy Member Posts: 151
    edited December 2011

    Yes I definately eat a lot of beans and they are so good for you and filling! xx

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