Dehydroepiandrosterone: an anti-obesity and anti-carcinogenic agent

Long-term treatment of female C3H-Avy/A (obese) and C3H-A/A (non-obese) mice with dehydroepiandrosterone, an adrenal steroid found in subnormal levels in women predisposed to develop breast cancer, reduces weight gain without suppressing appetite and significantly inhibits the development of spontaneous breast cancer. This steroid also antagonizes the capacity of the tumor promoter, 12-0-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate, to stimulate 3H-thymidine incorporation in mouse epidermis and in a cultured rat kidney epithelial cell line.