Effect of Chronic Thiamine Deficiency on Oral Carcinogenesis

¹ Department of Oral Pathology, Medical College of Virginia, School of Dentistry, Richmond, Virginia

Two investigations relative to the role of chronic thiamine deficiency in the hamster during cheek-pouch carcinogenesis were made. The first dealt with a method for determining thiamine levels adequate for maintenance of life during chronic thiamine deficiency. A method for serum thiamine analysis on small samples (0.5 ml.) was developed, in order that individual animals could be assayed. Data collected in this preliminary investigation allowed the correct dietary thiamine level, so that chronic deficiency of this element was established during topical treatment of the cheek-pouch mucosa with a chemical carcinogenic compound. While both deficient and control hamsters demonstrated a 100 per cent incidence of squamous-cell carcinoma in the treated pouches, the latent period for tumor induction was significantly shortened in the group maintained on a thiamine-low diet.