Carcinogens are chemicals that can produce tumors, abnormal tissue growths caused by a loss of control in cell replication. Most tumors are solid masses (e.g., lung cancer), but some do not occur as tissue swellings (e.g., leukemia).
Tumors may be benign or malignant. Benign tumors are to a certain degree controlled in their growth. As a result, benign tumors maintain some form of cellular organization and grow rather slowly over a period of years. In contrast, cell growth in malignant tumors is almost totally uncontrolled. Cells in malignant tumors grow very rapidly in a disoriented fashion.
Benign tumors are encapsulated by a fibrous layer and so do not invade surrounding tissue. Malignant tumors invade surrounding tissue. Thus, while a benign tumor grows at one site, a malignant tumor sends out cancerous cells via the blood and lymphatic system to distant sites of the body, spreading by a process known as metastasis. The invasion of surrounding tissues by a malignant tumor produces various symptoms.
Carcinogenesis is a complicated process in which many factors are known to play significant roles. Certain external environmental factors are important. For instance, cigarette smoking is known to cause predisposition to the development of lung cancer. A diet low in fiber content and high in fat is correlated with a high incidence of colorectal cancer. In addition, internal factors, such as hormonal imbalances and immunosuppression, can also increase the chance of developing tumors. Sensitivity to chemical carcinogens is known to be species-dependent. A chemical carcinogen may induce tumors in one animal species but not another, and a species that is sensitive to one carcinogen may be resistant to another. Known human carcinogens include some anticancer drugs, aromatic (containing a benzene ring in its chemical structure) amino and nitro compounds, metals, radionuclides, and miscellaneous chemicals. In humans the respiratory tract is the most common target for chemical carcinogens, followed by the liver and the blood.
Although there have been many theories on the mechanism of chemically induced tumor formation, it is now thought that DNA is the target of most chemical carcinogens. The carcinogens interact with the DNA and interfere with its normal function. Because DNA controls cellular functions, when DNA is damaged, the cell presumably loses control and divides in a chaotic fashion. A clone of the parent cell is generated, and these cells maintain the chaotic replication, which ultimately leads to the formation of a tumor. In general it takes 10 to 20 years for the initial DNA damage in one cell to develop into a recognizable tumor.
Carcinogens that are thought to produce cancer in laboratory animals by altering the DNA are referred to as genotoxic carcinogens. They are either direct-acting or indirect-acting chemicals.
Direct-acting (reactive) genotoxic chemicals can themselves interact with DNA. Indirect-acting genotoxic carcinogens do not bind to DNA until they have been biotransformed in the body to reactive chemicals. Among the indirect-acting carcinogens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nitrosamines, and nitrosonornicotine are found in cigarette smoke. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also formed in charcoal-broiled meat. Nitrosamines can be formed by the nitrosation of nitrite-cured, protein-rich food, such as nitrite-cured meat and fish, in the intestine.
Chemicals that produce cancer by a mechanism other than by binding to DNA are known as epigenetic carcinogens. The mechanisms by which epigenetic carcinogens produce tumors are not known with certainty, but various theories have been proposed. Cytotoxins are thought to kill cells in the target organ. The cell death increases cell replication by the remaining cells, which somehow results in tumor development, possibly by stimulating the division of cells that have previously had their DNA damaged by a genotoxic carcinogen.
It has been proposed that hormones and chemicals which modify the activities of the endocrine system create a physiological imbalance in organs dependent for their functioning on a particular hormone. With the imbalance, the organ may lose its normal physiological control and tumor growth may occur. This may be the mechanism by which estrogens in postmenopausal women lead to development of uterine cancer and the reason antithyroid agents, such as 3-amniotriazole, produce thyroid tumors.
Chemicals that depress the immune system are thought to produce tumors by impairing cell-mediated immunity, which is important in the normal elimination of tumor cells. The development of tumors involves two main steps: initiation and promotion. Initiation is the creation by genotoxic carcinogens of a cell with abnormal DNA. After initiation, promoters stimulate the replication of these neoplastic cells and facilitate the development of the tumor. Initiators include genotoxic chemicals. Although promoters do not produce tumors directly, they are still considered carcinogens because they can lead to the development of tumors in concert with an initiator. Promoters include large chlorinated hydrocarbon molecules (e.g., DDT, PCBs, TCDD, butylated hydroxy antioxidants, and saccharin) and tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate in croton oil.
Mutagenesis
Mutagenesis is the alteration of genes. Substances able to produce mutations are naturally genotoxic substances. Once a gene is mutated in a cell, the altered gene can be passed on to daughter cells. The body has ways to repair some of these gene alterations so that the genetic damage does not always propagate.
The effect that a mutation has depends on the cell in which the mutation occurs. In the somatic cells of most organs, mutation either has no effect, causes one cell to die, or causes a cell to divide at an uncontrolled rate so that a tumor develops. If the mutation occurs in germ cells (egg and sperms), there may be detectable changes or birth defects, or stillbirth may result.