Chemoprevention of pulmonary carcinogenesis by myo-inositol

This abstract summarizes material presented at the "First International Sym posium on Disease Prevention by IP6 and other Rice Components "held in Kyot o, Japan in June, I 998. The presentation deals primarily with studies of c hemoprevention of pulmonary carcinogenesis by myo-inositol. This compound i s largely formed by the dephosphorylation of inositol hexaphosphate (IP6, p hytate) within the gastrointestinal tract ill humans and animals. myo-Inosi tol is one of a relatively few compounds that has an inhibitor); effect on carcinogenesis of the lung in experimental animals when administered during the post-initiation period. It prevents pulmonary adenoma formation in A/J mice when fed in the diet subsequent to administrations of benzo[a]pyrene or the tobacco specific carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-bu tanone(NNK) to the mice. A second compound, dexamethasone, also prevents pu lmonary neoplasia under the same conditions. Experiments in which both myo- inositol and dexamethasone were administered together in the diet showed an additive inhibitory effect. The significance and utility of the chemopreve ntive properties of these agents remains to be determined.