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	Friday 15th December 2000 Beneficial Beans A chemical derived from soybeans has been found to shrink abnormal growths that lead to oral cancer. These findings by a UC Irvine College of Medicine clinical study, are thought to be among the first in humans to indicate that the soybean derivative could prevent oral cancer. The study appears in the December issue of Clinical Cancer Research. A chemical called Bowman-Birk Inhibitor reduced the size of precancerous lesions in the mouth – called oral leukoplakia – in about a third of participants in the clinical trial. Dr Frank Meyskens, director of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Centre, one of the leaders of the team carrying out the study, said, ‘This study shows that it may be possible to stave off the development of leukoplakia and therefore prevent more cases of oral cancer from occurring. 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.’ In the study, 32 participants took one lozenge of Bowman-Birk Inhibitor each day for a month. Ten participants showed a reduction in leukoplakia size by about half, and over the entire group, the average decrease in size was about 24 per cent. Bowman-Birk Inhibitor was identified 40 years ago, but its exact function is not known. Previous research has shown that Bowman-Birk Inhibitor is effective at stopping the initiation of cancer at a cellular level in the laboratory. Researchers have also found that high levels of soybean consumption are associated with lowered rates of colon, breast and prostate cancers. Meyskens said, ‘Current treatments for oral cancer are expensive and often require chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. Comparatively, oral leukoplakia is far easier to treat. If further trials with Bowman-Birk Inhibitor are successful, they could lead to better prevention methods to keep leukoplakia from growing and preventing this cancer from occurring in the first place.’