Influence of the application mode of N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]-formamide on the localization of its carcinogenic expression in female NMRI-mice.

The administration of N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]-formamide FANFT) by gavage to female NMRI-mice resulted in a high incidence of neoplasms of the forestomach. From 117 effective animals which were pooled from 3 dosed groups, 30 squamous cell carcinomas and 26/117 papillomas of the forestomach were diagnosed. Only 5/117 neoplasms of the urinary bladder occurred. The average cumulative dose administered was 1180 mg/mouse, and the mean latent period for the induction of forestomach tumours was 574 days. The mode of application seems to be an important factor in the carcinogenicity of FANFT.

Role of renal metabolism and excretion in 5-nitrofuran-induced uroepithelial cancer in the rat.

5-Nitrofurans have been used in the study of chemical carcinogenesis. There is substantial evidence that N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl] formamide (FANFT) is deformylated to 2-amino-4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)thiazole (ANFT) in the process of FANFT-induced bladder cancer. Paradoxically, ANFT is less potent as a uroepithelial carcinogen than FANFT when fed to rats. Feeding aspirin with FANFT to rats decreases the incidence of bladder cancer. Isolated kidneys were perfused with 5-nitrofurans to determine renal clearances and whether aspirin acts to decrease urinary excretion of the carcinogen. In FANFT-perfused kidneys, FANFT was deformylated to ANFT and excreted (1.06 +/- 0.22 nmol/min) at a rate eightfold higher than excretion of FANFT. In kidneys perfused with equimolar ANFT, excretion of ANFT was 0.25 +/- 0.05 nmol/min, which suggests a coupling of renal deformylation of FANFT to excretion of ANFT in FANFT-perfused kidneys. Neither aspirin nor probenecid altered the urinary excretion or half-life of FANFT or ANFT. In rats fed 0.2% FANFT as part of their diet, coadministration of aspirin (0.5%) increased urinary excretion of ANFT during a 12-wk feeding study, which suggests decreased tissue binding or metabolism of ANFT. Kidney perfusion with acetylated ANFT (NFTA), a much less potent uroepithelial carcinogen, resulted in no ANFT excretion or accumulation, which indicates the specificity of renal deformylase. Renal deformylase activity was found in broken cell preparations of rat and human kidney. These data describe a unique renal metabolic/excretory coupling for these compounds that appears to explain the differential carcinogenic potential of the 5-nitrofurans tested. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that aspirin decreases activation of ANFT by inhibiting prostaglandin H synthase.

The influence of phenacetin or mechanical perforation on the development of renal pelvic and urinary bladder tumors in FANFT-induced urinary tract carcinogenesis.

The influence of 0.535% phenacetin in the diet or mechanical perforation of the renal pelvis and urinary bladder of male Sprague-Dawley rats in FANFT-induced urinary tract carcinogenesis was studied. The 151 rats were divided into 5 experimental and one control group. The rats were followed for up to 80 weeks. FANFT administered at 0.2% in the diet for 11 weeks resulted in a high incidence of urinary tract tumors particularly of the renal pelvis. Similar results were obtained by administration of 0.2% FANFT for 6 weeks followed by 0.535% phenacetin while FANFT for 6 weeks preceded or followed by mechanical perforation of the renal pelvis resulted in a significantly lower incidence of renal pelvic tumors. Phenacetin appeared to enhance the development of renal pelvic tumors in FANFT-induced urinary tract carcinogenesis. In contrast no effect of phenacetin on the urinary bladder could be detected.

Effect of dose on urinary bladder carcinogenesis induced in F344 rats by N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide.

Because of the utility of the N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide (FANFT) rat model in the study of bladder cancer, the effect of dose on FANFT-induced bladder carcinogenesis was evaluated. Weaning male F344 rats were given FANFT in the diet at doses of 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.005, 0.001, and 0.0005% for 30 weeks and then a control diet for 22 weeks. A control group received only the control diet throughout the experiment. Papillary tumors were present at the higher doses, hyperplasia of various degrees of severly was present at the intermediate doses, and minimal hyperplasia was observed in 4 of 16 rats at the 0.005% dose; no mucosal abnormalities were observed at the two lower doses or in the control group. Bladder epithelium from selected animals was also examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after 10 weeks and again at the end of the experiment. Hyperplastic mucosa with pleomorphic microvilli similar to that previously demonstrated for 0.2% FANFT was observed at 10 weeks in rats fed 0.1% FANFT. Hyperplastic mucosa with pleomorphic microvilli was also observed at 52 weeks in rats fed 0.1% and 0.05% FANFT. Hyperplastic mucosa without pleomorphic microvilli was observed in rats fed 0.01 and 0.005% FANFT. The bladder appeared normal by light microscopy and SEM at the two lower doses and in the control group at both the 10- and 52-week intervals. A dose relationship was thus demonstrated for FANFT-induced bladder carcinogenesis in male F344 rats, and more severe surface changes were observed by SEM as the dose increased.

Promoting effect of saccharin and DL-tryptophan in urinary bladder carcinogenesis.

The existence of at least two stages in bladder carcinogenesis was evaluated in male Fischer rats using N-[14-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide (FANFT) fed for six weeks at a level of 0.2% of the diet as the initiator. Sodium saccharin and DL-tryptophan were fed at levels of 5 and 2% of the diet, respectively, as possible promoting chemicals, and they were fed either immediately after FANFT administration or after six weeks of FANFT plus six weeks of control diet. All surviving rats were killed at the end of two years. Both chemicals significantly increased the incidence of bladder tumors following FANFT feeding compared to six weeks of FANFT feeding followed by control diet, and the results were similar whether saccharin or tryptophan feeding was started immediately after FANFT feeding was concluded or after a six-week delay. Saccharin was considerably more potent as a promoting agent than was tryptophan, inducing higher incidences of bladder tumors and having a shorter latent period. Long-term administration of FANFT induced a 100% incidence of bladder cancer. Sequential epithelial changes were observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy as well as by light microscopy. Pleomorphic microvilli were present on the superficial cells of all tumors examined and on the surface cells of hyperplastic bladder epithelium after six weeks of FANFT plus six weeks of saccharin, but not after six weeks of FANFT and six weeks of control diet. Rats fed only saccharin tryptophan, or control diet did not have bladder tumors or pleomorphic microvilli on bladder epithelium. These data suggest that saccharin and tryptophan might act as tumor-promoting agents during bladder carcinogenesis.

A long-term study of reversible and progressive urinary bladder cancer lesions in rats fed N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide.

Hyperplasia and, ultimately, neoplasia of bladder epithelium were produced by feeding 0.2% N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide (FANFT) to weaning male Fischer rats. Hyperplasia induced by FANFT feeding for 2, 4, or 6 weeks, followed by feeding control diet until the end of the 84-week experiment, was reversible, and at the end of the experiment bladder epithelium in these animals was normal by light and scanning electron microscopy. Hyperplasia produced by 8 or more weeks of FANFT feeding was irreversible and by 84 weeks had resulted in bladder tumors in all animals fed FANFT for 12 or more weeks and in 4 of 5 and 6 of 7 animals fed FANFT for 8 and 10 weeks, respectively. The epithelial changes after 6 and 8 weeks of FANFT were similar by light microscopy but different by scanning electron microscopy. Pleomorphic microvilli seen with scanning electron microscopy are the hallmark of irreversible, and possibly progressive, epithelial proliferative change.