Inhibits of of colon carcinogenesis

Disulfiram (tetraethylthiuram disulfide, Antabuse) and sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, when added to the diet, inhibit 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced neoplasia of the large bowel in female CF1 mice. Ethylene bis(dithiocarbamato)manganese (Maneb) and bis(ethylxanthogen), two pesticides with structural similarities to disulfiram, produce comparable inhibition of DHM. In other work, disulfiram was found to inhibit the carcinogenic effect of azoxymethane (AOM) on the large bowel. Under comparable conditions the inhibition of AOM was considerably less than that obtained with DMH as the carcinogen. The data suggest that disulfiram inhibits DMH metabolism at more than one oxidative step.