Moloney murine sarcoma virus tumors in CBA/J mice: chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic actions of supplemental beta-carotene.
Decreased tumor frequency, increased latent period, and increased rate of tumor regression were observed in male inbred CBA/J mice fed supplemental beta-carotene before and/or after they were inoculated with the Moloney sarcoma virus. When beta-carotene feeding was begun after tumors were already present, it markedly increased the rate of tumor regression. beta-Carotene minimized the virus-induced thymus gland involution that accompanies tumor growth, and this action on the thymus gland was believed to underlie part of beta-carotene's antitumor activity. The basal diet, a standard commercial mouse chow containing more vitamin A than the National Research Council recommends as a daily allowance for rodents, supported normal growth, reproduction, and longevity of normal mice. The work reported here is the first demonstration of the antitumor action of beta-carotene in mice inoculated with an oncogenic virus.
D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004032:Diet; D017988:Gammaretrovirus; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D012513:Sarcoma, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D019207:beta Carotene
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids