A study of the capacity of
chalcone to inhibit benzo[alpha]
pyrene(BP)-induced
carcinogenesis of the lungs and forestomach in female A/J mice and
N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced mammary
carcinogenesis in female Sprague-Dawley rats has been carried out.
Chalcone, 5 mg/g of diet, had a inhibitory effect on pulmonary
adenoma formation (29%) and on mammary
tumor formation (49%) when the compound was fed starting one week after final
carcinogen administration.
Chalcone did not inhibit forestomach
tumor formation. In an additional study,
chalcone started 4 weeks after MNU and fed for 3-week courses alternating with 3-week courses of control diet for the duration of the protocol also inhibited mammary
tumor formation by 49%. The data showing that
chalcone has inhibitory effects against both pulmonary and mammary
carcinogenesis when given after
carcinogen administration provides the basis for further investigations of this and possibly other
chalcones as chemopreventive suppressing agents.