Potentiating effect of benzo[a]pyrene and caffeine on Friend viral leukemogenesis

The effect of exposing mice to both a chemical carcinogen and leukemia virus with and without an inhibitor of DNA repair were compared. The data indicated that benzo[a]pyrene (BP) could exert a potentiating effect of Friend viral leukemogenesis in mice, which was dependent on the relative times of administration of the chemical and virus. The addition of caffeine as an inhibitor of DNA repair further enhanced the potentiating effect of BP on the leukemia, but in the absence of BP, caffeine showed no carcinogenic effect either when given alone or in conjunction with Friend leukemia virus.