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Tumor Progression in Sencar Mouse Skin as a Function of Initiator Dose and Promoter Dose, Duration, and Type¹

Department of Carcinogenesis, Science Park-Research Division, The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Smithville, Texas 78957

The influence of initiator dose and promoter dose, duration, and type on the progression of papillomas to carcinomas was examined in Sencar mice. A good dose-response relationship for promotion of papilloma formation by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) [following initiation with 6.5 µg of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)] was observed in the range of 0.125 to 2.0 µg/mouse. A maximal papilloma response was induced with 2 µg/mouse (24 papillomas/mouse). When adjusted for mortality, the carcinoma incidence after 60 wk of promotion was essentially the same (80%) for doses above 0.5 µg/mouse. In a related experiment, mice were given an initiation dose of either 2 or 20 µg of DMBA followed by applications of 2 µg of TPA for 3, 5, 7, or 60 wk. Papilloma formation was proportional to length of treatment, with a maximum of 29 papillomas/mouse (20-µg initiating dose of DMBA) and 10 papillomas/mouse (2-µg initiating dose of DMBA) occurring between 10 and 15 wk of promotion. In this experiment, the carcinoma incidence was clearly proportional to the duration of promoter treatment at the low initiation dose of DMBA. The carcinoma incidence, on the other hand, was similar (70%) in groups of mice given an initiation dose of 20 µg of DMBA and promotion treatment for 5 wk. Thus, the initiator dose had a dramatic effect on the outcome of these experiments. Additional experiments were performed to compare tumor progression with the anthrone promoter, chrysarobin. At optimal promoting doses, chrysarobin treatment produced a maximum number of papillomas that was approximately that produced by TPA (6.4 versus 17.0 papillomas per mouse, respectively). However, the carcinoma response was very similar in these two treatment groups, confirming previous work from this laboratory. In addition, chrysarobin treatment following 10 wk of TPA promotion did not enhance the progression of preexisting papillomas to carcinomas. The data presented in this paper are consistent with a model in which several types or stages of papillomas are initially produced during two-stage carcinogenesis in mouse skin with different probabilities of progressing to carcinomas. However, the data indicate that optimal doses of promoter and initator exist and can influence interpretation of tumor progression studies in mouse skin.

¹ Research supported by USPHS Grants CA 37111 (J.D.) and CA 43278 (T. J. S.).

² Postdoctoral Fellow supported by Training Grant CA 09480.

³ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received 4/18/88. Revised 8/18/88. Accepted 8/26/88.