The MDM2 oncoprotein regulates the p53 pathway and, while functional polymorphisms of the MDM2 and p53 genes have been investigated for association with breast cancer risk, results are largely null or non-conclusive. We have earlier reported that the increased intake of soy isoflavones reduces risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, and experimental studies suggest that dietary isoflavones can down-regulate the expression of the MDM2 oncoprotein. In this study, we investigated the association between the MDM2 SNP309 and TP53 R72P polymorphisms and breast cancer risk using a case-control study of 403 cases and 662 controls nested among 35,303 women in The Singapore Chinese Health Study, a population-based, prospective cohort of middle-aged and elderly men and women who have been continuously followed since 1993. The G allele of the TP53 R72P polymorphism and T allele of the MDM2 SNP309 polymorphism were putative high-risk alleles and exhibited a combined gene-dose-dependent joint effect on breast cancer risk that was more clearly observed in postmenopausal women. Among postmenopausal women, the simultaneous presence of G allele in TP53 and T allele in MDM2 polymorphisms was associated with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.42 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.06-5.50]. Furthermore, the protective effect of dietary soy isoflavones on postmenopausal breast cancer was mainly confined to women homozygous for the high activity MDM2 allele (GG genotype). In this genetic subgroup, women consuming levels of soy isoflavones above the median level exhibited risk that was half of those with below median intake (OR 0.52; 95% CI 0.28-0.99). Our findings support experimental data implicating combined effects of MDM2 protein and the p53-mediated pathway in breast carcinogenesis, and suggest that soy isoflavones may exert protective effect via down-regulation of the MDM2 protein.