Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 9, 2026
Retzius-Sparing Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy
Published on: May 19, 2022
Effect of soy protein isolate supplementation on biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical
Maarten C Bosland1, Ikuko Kato, Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
1Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. boslandm@uic.edu
Importance:
Soy consumption has been suggested to reduce risk or recurrence of prostate cancer, but this has not been tested in a randomized trial with prostate cancer as the end point.
Objective:
To determine whether daily consumption of a soy protein isolate supplement for 2 years reduces the rate of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy or delays such recurrence.
Design, Setting, And Participants:
Randomized, double-blind trial conducted from July 1997 to May 2010 at 7 US centers comparing daily consumption of a soy protein supplement vs placebo in 177 men at high risk of recurrence after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Supplement intervention was started within 4 months after surgery and continued for up to 2 years, with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurements made at 2-month intervals in the first year and every 3 months thereafter.
Intervention:
Participants were randomized to receive a daily serving of a beverage powder containing 20 g of protein in the form of either soy protein isolate (n=87) or, as placebo, calcium caseinate (n=90).
Main Outcomes And Measures:
Biochemical recurrence rate of prostate cancer (defined as development of a PSA level of ≥0.07 ng/mL) over the first 2 years following randomization and time to recurrence.
Results:
The trial was stopped early for lack of treatment effects at a planned interim analysis with 81 evaluable participants in the intervention group and 78 in the placebo group. Overall, 28.3% of participants developed biochemical recurrence within 2 years of entering the trial (close to the a priori predicted recurrence rate of 30%). Among these, 22 (27.2%) occurred in the intervention group and 23 (29.5%) in the placebo group. The resulting hazard ratio for active treatment was 0.96 (95% CI, 0.53-1.72; log-rank P = .89). Adherence was greater than 90% and there were no apparent adverse events related to supplementation.
Conclusion And Relevance:
Daily consumption of a beverage powder supplement containing soy protein isolate for 2 years following radical prostatectomy did not reduce biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer in men at high risk of PSA failure.
Trial Registration:
clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00765479.
