Inhibitory effects of benzyl isothiocyanate administered shortly before diethylnitrosamine or benzo[a]pyrene on pulmonary and forestomach neoplasia in A/J mice.

The inhibitory effects of benzyl isothiocyanate, a naturally-occurring constituent of cruciferous vegetables, on carcinogenesis of the forestomach and lungs of female A/J mice given dimethylnitrosamine (DEN) or benzo[a]pyrene (BP) was investigated. When administered by gavage 15 min prior to p.o. carcinogen challenge, benzyl isothiocyanate almost completely inhibited forestomach tumor formation resulting from DEN but had no effect on pulmonary tumor formation. With BP as the carcinogen, benzyl isothiocyanate had inhibitory effects on carcinogenesis of both the forestomach and lungs, the latter being greater. The implications for epidemiology studies and for chemopreventive strategies of compounds that inhibit when administered shortly before carcinogen challenge are discussed.