Induction of morphological transformation by coal-dust extract in BALB/3T3 A31-1-13 cell line.

The transforming activity of coal dust extracts was studied using BALB/3T3 clone A31-1-13 cells. Coal-dust extracts, both nitrosated and nonnitrosated, induced cell transformation in a dose-response manner. However, the transformation frequency was higher with the nitrosated than with the nonnitrosated extract. All transformed cell lines derived from coal-dust extract-induced foci showed biological characteristics of neoplastic transformation such as loss of contact inhibition and anchorage-independent growth. These results appear to support a hypothesis of coal mine dust causation of gastric cancer in coal miners.