Chemical structure of nitrosamines related to carcinogenesis
1994
Lijinsky, W.
N-Nitroso compounds are the most broadly tested group of carcinogens and are effective in all species. Of the several hundred compounds examined most require metabolic activation, presumably by enzymes that are present in only some organs of some species. Directly acting nitrosamides and alkylnitrosoureas have no such limitation, yet are similarly organ- and species-specific in their carcinogenic action. Compounds giving rise to the same proximate alkylating moiety often produce widely different carcinogenic effects; alkylation of DNA is often similar in organs in which tumors arise and in organs that are unresponsive. The results suggest that a match between particular chemical structures and organ-specific receptor molecules in a particular species is responsible for the induction of characteristic cancers, such as pancreas duct tumors in Syrian hamsters, esophageal tumors in rats and tumors of the nervous system in rats and mice.
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