Supplemental Carotenoids Prevent Skin Cancer by Benzo(a)Pyrene, Breast Cancer by Puva, and Gastric Cancer by MNNG. Relevance in Human Chemoprevention

In 1980, the results of an experiment carried out on female mice with the methodology used to show a photoenhancement of benzo(a)pyrene (BP) carcinogenicity, demonstrated that supplemental dietary carotenoids prevent BP skin cancer, both following long UV irradiation and in the dark (29). Such experiment was stimulated by the fact that carotenoids produce a reduction in the UV-B induced sunburn erythema response (14,15) and delay skin tumor induction in hairless mice exposed to UV-B (16).