13-cis-retinoic acid: inhibition of bladder carcinogenesis in the rat.

Transitional cell and squamous cell cancer of the bladder was induced in Wistar/Lewis female rats by direct instillation of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea into the bladder. Feeding of the synthetic retinoid, 13-cis-retinoid acid, inhibited the incidence and extent of bladder cancer in these rats, even when 13-cis-retinoic acid administration was begun after completion of the carcinogen treatment.