SCREENING OF POTENTIAL CANCER-PREVENTING CHEMICALS FOR INHIBITION OF INDUCTION OF ORNITHINE DECARBOXYLASE IN EPITHELIAL-CELLS FROM RAT TRACHEA

Sixty-one selected chemicals were evaluated in rat tracheal epithelial (2C5) cells for their capacity to inhibit induction (or inhibit direc tly) the enzyme ornithine decarboxylase, the activity of which is asso ciated with cell growth and division. alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (D FMO) was used as a positive control. At non-toxic concentrations, six test compounds had substantial activity (values for IC50 DFMO/IC50 com pound >1): N-(2-carboxyphenyl)-all-trans-retinamide, ZK 119010 ethyl-1 -[6-(1-pyrrolidinyl)hexyl]-1H-ind-ol-5-ol), curcumin, 18-alpha-olean-1 2-ene-3B,23,28-triol, genistein and phenethyl isothiocyanate. These sh ould be considered for further development as cancer preventive agents .