Add mushrooms to the list of natural weapons women may use to reduce their risks of breast cancer, according to a Chinese study.

Researchers discovered the beneficial effect of mushrooms when they compared the diets of more than 1,000 Chinese women breast cancer patients between ages 20-87 with a similar amount of healthy females.

Women who ate at least 10 grams (roughly a third of an ounce) or more of fresh mushrooms daily slashed their odds of developing breast cancer by about two-thirds. And, consuming 4 grams (0.14 ounces) of dried mushrooms contributed to a 50-percent reduction of breast cancer risks.

How can mushrooms reduce a woman's breast cancer risks? Scientists believe mushrooms may interact with the body in the same way as breast cancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors do, that lower the amount of estrogen in the body.

These overwhelmingly positive results may have been partially responsible for spurring California researchers to launch a study to learn if consuming a mushroom extract twice daily over the course of a month may protect breast cancer survivors from a second bout of the disease.

International Journal of Cancer, Vol. 124, No. 6, p. 1404-1408, March 15, 2009

Telegraph.co.uk March 16, 2009

Reuters March 13, 2009