Tumorigenicity of five dihydrodiols of benz(a)anthracene on mouse skin: exceptional activity of benz(a)anthracene 3,4-dihydrodiol.

Benz[a]anthracene and the five metabolically possible vicinal trans dihydrodiols of benz[a]anthracene were tested for ability to initiate skin tumors in CD-1 female mice. A single topical application of 0.4-2.0 mumol of hydrocarbon was followed 18 days later by twice weekly applications of the skin promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate. Comparisons of latency period, percent of mice with tumors, and number of papillomas observed per mouse indicated that benz[a]anthracene 1,2-, 5,6-, 8,9-, and 10, 11-dihydrodiols were all less active tumor initiators than was benz[a]anthracene. The high tumorigenicity of benz[a]anthracene 3,4-dihydrodiol, presumably the result of metabolism to either or both of the diastereomeric benz[a]anthracene 3,4-diol-1,2-epoxides, supports the bay region theory of polycyclic hydrocarbon carcinogenicity and provides the first example of a proximate carcinogenic metabolite that is much more active than the parent hydrocarbon on mouse skin.