Cancer induction by an organic arsenic compound, dimethylarsinic acid (cacodylic acid), in F344/DuCrj rats after pretreatment with five carcinogens.

Arsenic (As) is environmentally ubiquitous and an epidemiologically significant chemical related to certain human cancers. Dimethylarsinic acid (cacodylic acid; DMA) is one of the major methylated metabolites of ingested arsenicals in most mammals. To evaluate the effects of DMA on chemical carcinogenesis, we conducted a multiorgan bioassay in rats given various doses of DMA. One-hundred twenty-four male F344/DuCrj rats were divided randomly into 7 groups (20 rats each for groups 1-5; 12 rats each for groups 6 and 7). To initiate multiple organs and tissues, animals in groups 1-5 were treated sequentially with diethylnitrosamine (100 mg/kg body weight, i.p., single dose at the commencement) and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (20 mg/kg body weight, i.p., 4 times, on days 5, 8, 11, and 14). Thereafter, rats received 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (40 mg/kg body weight, s.c., 4 times, on days 18, 22, 26, and 30). During the same period, the animals were sequentially administered N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (0.05% in the drinking water, during weeks 1 and 2) and N-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)nitrosamine (0.1% in the drinking water, during weeks 3 and 4; DMBDD treatment). After a 2-week interval, groups 2-5 were given 50, 100, 200, or 400 ppm DMA, respectively, in the drinking water. Groups 6 and 7, which were not given DMBDD treatment, received 100 and 400 ppm DMA during weeks 6-30. All rats were killed at the end of week 30. In the initiated groups (groups 1-5), DMA significantly enhanced the tumor induction in the urinary bladder, kidney, liver, and thyroid gland, with respective incidences in group 5 (400 ppm DMA) being 80, 65, 65, and 45%. Induction of preneoplastic lesions (glutathione S-transferase placental form-positive foci in the liver and atypical tubules in the kidney) was also significantly increased in DMA-treated groups. Ornithine decarboxylase activity in the kidneys of rats treated with 100 ppm DMA was significantly increased compared with control values (P < 0.001). In conclusion, DMA is acting as a promoter of urinary bladder, kidney, liver, and thyroid gland carcinogenesis in rats, and we speculate that this may be related to cancer induction by As in humans.