ANTICANCER EFFECTS OF METHYLATED AND NONMETHYLATED SOY ISOFLAVONES IN PRECANCEROUS PROSATE CELLS A Senior Honors Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation with distinction in Human Nutrition in the College of Education and Human Ecology

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. Increased consumption of soy is thought to reduce the risk for this disease. More specifically, the isoflavones found in soy are responsible, in part, for these anticancer effects. Isoflavones are organic compounds found in soy and other legumes and it is thought that methylated isoflavones (glycitein, biochanin A, formononetin) may have greater anticancer activity than those without methyl groups (genistein, daidzein, equol). However, the majority of studies, to date, have focused primarily on the nonmethylated isoflavones, genistein and daidzein. Epidemiological evidence also suggests that the anticancer effects of soy may be greatest during the precancerous stages of prostate cancer. Few studies, however, have examined the impact of soy isoflavones during this precancerous stage. This study examined the antiproliferative effects of methylated and nonmethylated soy isoflavones using a precancerous prostate cell line (WPE1-NB14). The precancerous prostate cells were treated with the six different soy isoflavones, three methylated and three nonmethylated, in different concentrations (0-50µM). Cell viability was determined using the