Low susceptibility of nude mice to induction of invasive urinary bladder cancers by N-ethyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine.

A time- and dose-dependent study of N-ethyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (EHBN) bladder carcinogenesis was performed in nude mice maintained on tap water containing 0.025% EHBN for 4, 12, and 20 weeks ad libitum. A total of 13 invasive tumors, comprising 11 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) (84.6%) and 2 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) (15.4%), were found. Compared with previous results for B6C3F1 mice exposed to the same EHBN insult, the numbers of invasive carcinomas induced in nude mice, and especially of SCCs, were low. In order to ascertain whether this difference in cancer incidence between nude and B6C3F1 mice was due to variation in urinary excretion, the metabolism of EHBN was also investigated and compared with that of N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BBN). Respective total urinary excretions over 48 hr of N-ethyl-N-(3-carboxypropyl)nitrosamine (ECPN) or N-butyl-N-(3-carboxypropyl)nitrosamine (BCPN), the ultimate carcinogenic species of EHBN or BBN, were 822.4 +/- 41.4 micrograms and 530.4 +/- 81.0 micrograms, respectively, in nude mice, and 800.6 +/- 83.7 micrograms and 407.8 +/- 69.7 micrograms, respectively, in B6C3F1 mice. In conclusion, although it is apparent that nude mice have a low susceptibility to EHBN induction of urinary bladder cancer, this does not appear to be dependent on reduced metabolism to the active form.