7,12-Dimethylbenz 'a''nthracene (DMBA) is an immunosuppressor and a powerful organ-specific laboratory

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

. DMBA is widely used in many research laboratories studying cancer. DMBA serves as a tumor initiator.

Tumor promotion Tumor promotion is a process in carcinogenesis by which various factors permit the descendants of a single initiated cell to survive and expand in number, i.e. to resist apoptosis and to undergo clonal growth. This is a step toward tumor progres ...

can be induced with treatments of 12-''O''-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in some models of two-stage carcinogenesis. This allows for a greatly accelerated rate of tumor growth, making many cancer studies possible.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, 7,12- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Carcinogens Anthracenes Immunosuppressants