New advances in the understanding of the role of steroids and steroid receptors in disease

Steroids and related compounds are important in disease development and pre vention, via steroid receptor-mediated and receptor-independent mechanisms. Interaction of endogenous oestrogens with the oestrogen receptor has unfor tunate mitogenic effects in breast cancer. However, dietary consumption of non-steroidal weak oestrogens, such as the soy isoflavone phytoestrogens ge nistein and diadzein, is associated with a decreased breast cancer risk. Th is may arise in part from the suboptimal configuration induced in the trans activation helix of oestrogen receptor-beta.