Tumor-initiating and promoting activities of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in vivo and in vitro.

The carcinogenic effects of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), including its potential as an initiator and as a promoter of carcinogenesis, were studied in mouse liver and skin and in rat liver in vivo, and in mouse epidermis-derived JB6 cells in vitro. A mouse model for liver initiation and promotion involved initiation by injection of N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN) intraperitoneally into male B6C3F1 mice at 4 weeks of age, followed by exposure to either DEHP in the diet (3000, 6000, or 12,000 ppm) or phenobarbital in the drinking water (500 ppm), beginning 1 to 2 weeks later and continuing for periods of from 1 day to 18 months. Female F344/NCr rats were subjected to a similar protocol in which promotion continued for 14 weeks. DEHP promoted focal hepatocellular proliferative lesions (FHPL), including hyperplastic foci and neoplasms initiated by DEN in mice but not in rats. Skin-painting studies in female CD-1 or SENCAR mice involved initiation by a single topical exposure to 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]-anthracene (DMBA) applied to the dorsal skin, followed by repeated percutaneous exposure to a tumor promoter, either DEHP or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). To test for two-stage skin tumor promotion, SENCAR mice were initiated with DMBA and then TPA was administered for only 2 weeks, after which DEHP was subsequently administered for 26 weeks. DEHP displayed very weak complete promoting activity and definite second stage promoting activity in SENCAR mouse skin, but was inactive under our conditions on CD-1 mouse skin. In vitro promoting activity of DEHP and its hydrolysis products, mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP) and 2-ethylhexanol (EH), was studied by using promotable mouse epidermis-derived JB6 cells. DEHP and MEHP promoted JB6 cells to anchorage independence, while EH did not.