Suppression of spontaneous hepatocellular carcinoma development in C3H/HeNCrj mice by the lipophilic ascorbic acid, 2-O-octadecylascorbic acid (CV-3611).

The study was performed to examine the effects of the lipophilic ascorbic acid, 2-O-octadecylascorbic acid (CV-3611), with a strong scavenging capacity for active oxygen species, on the spontaneous development of liver tumors in male C3H/HeNCrj mice. Animals were given a diet containing 0.1% CV-3611 for a total experimental period of 16 months. Hepatocellular carcinomas developed in 2/39 (5%) of these experimental mice and in 11/43 (26%) of control mice fed a basal diet. The numbers of carcinoma per mouse were 0.05 +/- 0.22 and 0.33 +/- 0.61 respectively. Thus, CV-3611 clearly suppressed the development of hepatocellular carcinomas. However, the scavenger did not affect either the incidence or the number of hepatocellular adenomas, suggesting that active oxygen species might be involved in the conversion of adenomas to carcinomas in spontaneous liver carcinogenesis in C3H/HeNCrj mice.