Lipid peroxidation and lipid antioxidants in normal and tumor cells.

Lipid peroxidation is often low in tumor tissue as compared to the corresponding normal tissue and it has been postulated that lipid peroxidation may be associated with cell division. In this paper the various contributory factors which control the rate of microsomal lipid peroxidation in normal rat liver and in the Novikoff hepatoma have been carefully analyzed. The low rate of lipid peroxidation in the hepatoma seems to be due to a combination of factors: low levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids and of cytochrome P-450 and elevated levels of lipid-soluble antioxidant. This lipid-soluble antioxidant is principally alpha-tocopherol.