Prevention by vitamin E of experimental oral carcinogenesis

In the standard model for hamster buccal pouch, using a 0.5% solution of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene [(DMBA) CAS: 57-97-6], it was shown that vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) inhibited carcinogenesis. With a less potent carcinogen (0.1% DMBA), vitamin E was shown to prevent tumor development. Eighty (total) male and female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were divided into 4 equal groups. After 28 weeks, animals in group 2 that had left buccal pouches painted with 0.1% DMBA (in heavy mineral oil) three times/week and that had been given 10 mg DL-alpha-tocopherol on alternate days (i.e., two times/wk) showed no tumors there. However, the pouches of group 1 animals that had been similarly painted with DMBA but that had received no vitamin E demonstrated grossly and microscopically the presence of epidermoid carcinomas.