Inositol hexaphosphate inhibits large intestinal cancer in F344 rats 5 months after induction by azoxymethane

Abstract

A treatment regimen of 2% Na-InsP₆ fin drinking water was effective in significantly reducing large intestinal cancer in F344 rats even when the treatment was begun 5 months after carcinogenic induction with azoxymethane (AOM 8 mg/kg/wk × 6). Compared to untreated (AOM-only) rats, animals on InsP₆ had 27% fewer tumors (P < 0.02). The tumors were approximately two-thirds smaller in size (P < 0.01) and percentage mitotic rate in the non-neoplastic epithelium was less than half (1.0 ± 0.1, compared to 2.3 ± 0.2 of AOM-only animals, significant at P < 0.001). We postulate that InsP₆ may exert its antineoplastic effect by way of regulating cellular proliferation even after effective carcinogenic stimuli and thus may be an important candidate for chemointervention.