The skin
tumor-promoting activities of three organic
peroxides were evaluated and compared to the activity of
benzoyl peroxide, a well-characterized
tumor promoter. Two of the compounds (
di-t-butyl peroxide and
dicumyl peroxide) were dialkyl
peroxides and the other (di-m-chlorobenzoyl
peroxide) was a diacyl
peroxide. These compounds were selected based on a previous study in which we evaluated their capacity to induce epidermal
hyperplasia,
ornithine decarboxylase activity, and dark basal keratinocytes, which have been reliable short-term markers of
tumor promotion.
Dicumyl peroxide was a weak
tumor promoter despite its high activity in inducing
hyperplasia. Like
benzoyl peroxide, di-m-chlorobenzoyl
peroxide generally had intermediate activity as an inducer of short-term markers of
tumor promotion and was a moderately effective
tumor promoter. However, compared to
benzoyl peroxide, di-m-chlorobenzoyl
peroxide was more toxic to the skin, which may have limited its
tumor-promoting activity. The final compound,
di-t-butyl peroxide, which was essentially inactive in short-term assays, was also totally inactive in promoting
papillomas or
carcinomas in initiated skin.
Tumor-promoting efficacy generally showed an inverse association with thermal stability for the compounds tested, suggesting that the rate of formation of
free radicals is a key factor contributing to
tumor promotion by organic
peroxides. However, a number of other factors can potentially affect the activity of different organic
peroxides as
tumor promoters. Each compound evaluated had a different spectrum of activities, and these compounds should be useful for studying mechanisms of organic
peroxide-induced
tumor promotion.