Butylated hydroxytoluene exposure is necessary to induce lung tumors in BALB mice treated with 3-methylcholanthrene.

Chronic butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) treatment after a single administration of a carcinogen increases lung tumor multiplicity in some inbred strains of mice. We report that BALB/cOla and BALB/cByJ mice given a low dose (10 microg/g of body weight) of 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) develop no lung tumors unless this is followed by chronic BHT exposure. Slightly higher MCA doses (15 and 25 microg/g) induce low lung tumor multiplicities (0.6 and 1.9 tumors/mouse, respectively) that are increased 12-26-fold by chronic BHT administration. This low-dose MCA/BHT model in BALB mice will facilitate the identification of genes regulating susceptibility to lung tumor promotion and pulmonary chemopreventative agents that act at a postinitiation site.