Chronic ethanol intake and reduction of lung tumours from urethane in strain A mice

Combinations of ethanol and urethane were added to the drinking-water of female strain A/Ph mice for 12 wk, at the end of which the animals were killed. Urethane concentrations were 0, 200, 500 and 1000 ppm and ethanol concentrations, 0, 5, 10 and 20% (v/v). All possible combinations of these urethane and ethanol concentrations were tested. Urethane induced primary lung adenomas in all treated mice in a dose-dependent manner. An average of 71 +/- 15 tumours/mouse were found, when the animals were killed, after treatment with 1000 ppm urethane for 12 wk. Ethanol alone did not alter the background incidence of tumours and produced only marginal hepatotoxicity. The tumour yields induced by urethane treatment were greatly reduced by simultaneous treatment with ethanol. The effect of ethanol was independent of urethane dose. When the concentrations of ethanol in the drinking-water were 20 and 10% the incidences of lung adenomas induced by urethane were reduced by about two-thirds and one-half, respectively. The effect of 5% ethanol, if any, was not statistically significant.