H-ras oncogene mutation spectra in B6C3F1 and C57BL/6 mouse liver tumors provide evidence for TCDD promotion of spontaneous and vinyl carbamate-initiated liver cells.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent environmental toxin which has been found to be non-genotoxic in short term in vitro tests but strongly carcinogenic in two stage models of hepatocellular carcinogenesis in female rats. Many recent studies have shown that after treatment of mice with various genotoxic or non-genotoxic compounds, the H-ras oncogene mutational patterns exhibited by hepatocellular tumors appear to vary specifically with the chemical. To gain insight into the mechanism of TCDD-associated carcinogenesis, susceptible B6C3F1 mice and resistant C57BL/6 mice were treated with a single dose of vinyl carbamate (VC) or vehicle, and TCDD was administered once every 2 weeks for 1 year to half of the animals in each group. Liver tumor prevalence was assessed and found to be highest in the VC + TCDD treatment groups, reaching nearly 100% at 600 days in both sexes and both strains of mice. DNA was isolated from 20 or more frozen liver tumors (if available) from each exposure group and analyzed for H-ras mutations in codon 61 by sequencing after PCR amplification of exon 2. Fifty-one percent of tumors analyzed from B6C3F1 mice treated with TCDD alone had H-ras codon 61 mutations with a pattern similar to that detected in spontaneous tumors. Seventy-eight percent of tumors from B6C3F1 mice treated with both VC and TCDD had codon 61 mutations, and most mutations were A-->T transversions in the second base as observed similarly with VC alone. In the C57BL/6 strain comparable results were found in the respective exposure groups. These data suggest that TCDD is acting as a promoter of lesions previously initiated either spontaneously or by VC. Moreover, the intrinsic resistance of both male and female C57BL/6 mice to liver tumor formation seemed to disappear after treatment with TCDD.