Effect of dietary vitamin E on dimethylhydrazine-induced colonic tumors in mice.

This study investigates the effect of variations in dietary vitamin E on the incidence of dimethylhydrazine-induced colonic tumors in mice. Two groups of 65 LACA mice were given 28 weekly s.c. injections of dimethylhydrazine. The only difference in the management of the two groups was the dietary content of vitamin E; one group received 10 mg/kg, and the other group received 600 mg/kg. Of these two groups, 42 and 51 mice, respectively, survived, and there were significantly more adenomas, more adenomas with pleomorphic cytology, and more invasive carcinomas in the group receiving a low vitamin E supplement to their diet. It is suggested that vitamin E may have some part to play in the multifactorial effect of diet on colorectal carcinogenesis.