Prophylactic and Therapeutic Actions of Supplemental p-Carotene in Mice Inoculated With C3HBA Adenocarcinoma Cells: Lack of Therapeutic Action of Supplemental Ascorbic Acid 1,2,3,4

ABSTRACT-Decreased tumor incidence, increased latent period, and increased survival time were observed in C3H/HeJ mice fed supple-mental,B-carotene for 3 days and then inoculated with 104 C3HBA (syngeneic) tumor cells. In addition, C3H/HeJ, C3H/He, and CBA / J mice, fed supplemental,B-carotene beginning immediately after they were inoculated with 2 x 1 05 C3HBA tumor cells, showed decreased tumor growth and increased survival time. When,B-carotene was fed to mice in which palpable tumors were already present, it similarly slowed tumor growth and extended animal survival time. Ascorbic acid supple-mentation (5 g/kg diet), introduced into the experiment as a possible synergist for f3-carotene's antitumor action, was without therapeutic action when tested in the presence or absence of,B-carotene supple-ments. The basal diet, a standard commercial mouse chow, contains more vitamin A than the National Research Council's recommended dietary allowance for normal rodents and supports normal growth