Contact Reactivity to Azo Dye Carcinogens

Abstract

OLD et al.¹, in a recent publication, have shown that while three carcinogenic polycyclic hydrocarbons (3-methylcholanthrene, 3,4-benzpyrene and 3,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene) were capable of eliciting contact hypersensitivity in guinea pigs, the non-carcinogenic anthracene and phenanthrene were devoid of a similar capacity. They proposed that there might be a correlation between the capacity of a substance to elicit contact sensitivity and its carcinogenic activity as both seem to depend on interaction with proteins of the host. Further, they have suggested that in guinea pigs, resistant to chemical carcinogenesis and highly susceptible to delayed hypersensitivity, the response takes the form of contact sensitivity; in the rat and the mouse prone to chemical carcinogenesis, but with little or no ability to acquire contact sensitivity, the end result is tumour formation.