Soy Products and Infant Leukemia

Despite the fact that many health food advocates have stated that Soy product decrease cancer risk, there is a growing body of evidence that key components of most Soy products, called Phytoestrogens may actually promote cancer. This has been of great concern in the area of pediatrics, where infant leukemia rates have skyrocketed in the past thirty years.

Studies Point to a Connection

A study in 1999 noted that the Phytoestrogen Genistein is abundant in Soy products, including infant formulas used by millions of people throughout the world may be a powerful causative agent in the development of infantile acute leukemia and secondary infantile leukemia. It appeared in the study that Genistein caused significant chromosomal aberrations and breaks and researchers proposed the hypothesis that this could result in the development of these conditions in infants who take Soy Milk formulas based on the chromosomes involved.

Another earlier study in 1998 proposed a similar concern for infants and also pointed to the increased risk for women who take Soy who also have some kind of cancer, especially breast cancer which is negatively responsive to hormones like estrogen. A study in 1996 pointed out the possible connection with Soy Isoflavones and phytoestrogens and increased risk of cancer in post menopausal women using Soy products as a replacement for hormone replacement therapy.

A study in 2000 apparently shows a potentially strong connection between "Cleavage in the MLL gene" and the use of Soy products as a causative factor in Infantile Acute Leukemia.

The Rate of Disease is Increasing

The concern with infants is due to the staggering increase in these Leukemia's in our most defenseless citizens. Between 1973 and 1996 infantile Leukemia increased 17% (The EPA released this information in 2000 so we can assume the increasing rate may have continued).

Between 1992 and 1996, twenty out of every 100,000 children were diagnosed with some form of cancer. Many of these cancers were leukemia (cancers of the blood and blood developing organs such as bone marrow). How many of these children may have been exposed to Soy products in their infancy is unknown, but considering the popularity of Soy Based Baby Feeding Formulas, it can be assumed that it was many.

Soy in the News

In August 2004 in Israel the German company Humana agreed to pay a hundred million dollars to the parents of seventeen children that died or suffered health problems as a result of taking soy based baby formula that was vitamin deficient. The soy formula distributed by Humana subsidiary Remedia was lacking in vitamin B1, a critical vitamin that had been removed by the company. This mistake was made under the assumption that sufficient nutrients would be provided by the formula's soy base.

Do You Have A Possible Case?

Legal professionals have indicated an interest in studying complaints from parents or guardians of children who have been diagnosed with Infantile Acute Leukemia and secondary Leukemia where the children were fed Soy Products as infants. If your child has been diagnosed with either of these conditions, regardless of the outcome of the disease, please complete this form and a lawyer will review your complaint for possible legal action.