Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and 3 beta-methylandrost-5-en-17-one: inhibitors of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-initiated and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-promoted skin papilloma formation in mice.

Long-term oral administration of the adrenal steroid, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), has previously been shown to inhibit the development of spontaneous breast cancer and chemically induced lung and colon tumors in various mouse strains. In the two-stage skin papilloma system in the mouse, topical application of DHEA inhibits both 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene initiation and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate promotion of these tumors. The synthetic steroid, 3 beta-methylandrost-5-en-17-one, which, unlike DHEA, is not demonstrably estrogenic in the rat, also inhibits papilloma development.