[Influences of polychlorinated dibenzofuran on experimental carcinogenesis in mice]

To ascertain whether 2,3,4,7,8-pentachlorodibenzofuran (PCDF) has the possibility of cocarcinogen, three different concentrations of 0.5, 1 and 5 ppm PCDF was evaluated in the course of experimental carcinogenesis in mice. Concerning the difference of total number of tumors occurred among the groups of mice with various treatments, the mice treated with 0.5 ppm PCDF and 20-methylcholanthrene (MC) have produced twice as many tumors as those of the other groups. Then the adequate concentration of PCDF to be a promoter was supposed to be 0.5 ppm. Two kinds of tumors were seen in mice which were treated by MC with or without PCDF, and there was no difference of tumors between the groups by appearance and pathologically. One is a benign papilloma, and the other is a squamous cell carcinoma which tends to keratinize and looks like a keratoacanthoma. The latter had a tendency to arise much more four weeks after the treatments had been done, even though the number of the former increased gradually. There was no evidence that PCDF of these concentrations could permeate through the skin and could be toxic. Furthermore PCDF seemed to neither stay nor act directly on the follicular epithelium, since there was no acne formation on the back skin of mice. One of the possible factors to cause malignant changes of epidermal cells was supposed to be a prolonged inflammation of the skin.