Abstract B62: Zinc supplementation reduces forestomach tumor burden in N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine-treated mice

Zinc deficiency is associated with high incidences of esophageal and other human cancers. In addition, zinc status in plasma and white blood cells is a better indicator of tumor burden and stage of the disease in head and neck cancer patients than overall nutritional status. Research in rodents found that zinc insufficiency leads to a highly proliferative hyperplastic condition in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Zn replenishment reduces the incidence of lingual, esophageal, and forestomach tumors in Zn-deficient rats and mice. While previous animal studies focused on the effect of Zn deficiency on cancer prevention and development, in this study we investigated the effect of Zn supplementation on carcinogenesis in Zn-sufficient mice of wild type and three tumor suppressor-deficient mouse strains, Fhit−/−, Fhit−/−Nit1−/−, and Fhit−/−Rassf1a−/−. About fifty mice from each strain received 6-8 doses of N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA). Half the mice then received Zn supplemented water while another half received regular water. Sixteen weeks after last NMBA administration, mice were sacrificed and tumors were found only in forestomach. Mice without Zn supplementation had developed more tumors than Zn-supplemented mice: wild type C57BL/6 mice developed an average of 7.0 vs 5.0 tumors for Zn supplemented (p Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(12 Suppl):B62.