Ciliary alterations in hamster respiratory tract epithelium after exposure to carcinogens and cigarette smoke

Alterations in the ultrastructure of cilia were found to be one of the initial stages in the development of benzo(a)pyrene induced cancers in the trachea and bronchi of Syrian golden hamsters, as well as in the bronchi from which pulmonary adenocarcinomata originated after European hamsters were treated with N-dibutylnitrosamine. Similar abnormalities of cilia occurred in the respiratory epithelia of Syrian golden hamsters after one year of daily exposure to cigarette smoke.