Carcinogenicity of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) in the rat prostate and induction of invasive carcinomas by subsequent treatment with testosterone propionate.

2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) at 400 ppm in the diet for 52 weeks was found to induce non-invasive microscopic carcinomas in the ventral prostate of the treated rats, in addition to colon and mammary carcinomas. The current experimental data demonstrate that only a 20-week period of PhIP treatment is sufficient for induction of ventral carcinomas and that long-term pharmacological dosing with testosterone propionate which applied through a Silastic tube embedded in the subcutis after PhIP treatment can induce invasive carcinomas in the anterior prostate and seminal vesicles. Thus, PhIP may provide the basis for a good two stage carcinogenesis model for investigation of prostate carcinogenesis.