Anti-carcinogenic activity of Taraxacum plant. I

An extract of the roots of Taraxacum japonicum (Compositae) exhibited stron g anti-tumor-promoting activities on the two-stage carcinogenesis of mouse skin tumor induced by dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) as an initiator and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-3-acetate (TPA) as a promoter, as well as on that induced by DMBA and fumonisin B1. Further, the extract exhibited anti-tumo r-initiating activity on the two-stage carcinogenesis of mouse skin tumor i nduced by (+/-)-(E)-methyl-2-[(E)-hydroxyimino]-5-nitro-6-methoxy-3-hexenam ide (NOR-1) as an initiator and TPA as a promoter. These results suggested that an extract of the roots of the Taraxacum plant could be a valuable che mopreventive agent against chemical carcinogenesis.