Spectrometric studies of the persistence of fluorescent derivatives of carcinogens in mice.

Many attempts have been made to trace the path by which carcinogens are metabolized, with the hope that this may shed some light on the mecha nism of carcinogenesis. Current literature still con tains conflicting evidence on the question of whether the hydrocarbon itself, perhaps in a pro tein complex, or a metabolite is the active carcino genic agent. The work of Peacock et al. (7) sug gests that the strong carcinogens are the most slowly metabolized, while that of Weil-Malherbe and Dickens (9, 10) suggests the reverse. More recent work by Heidelberger and associates (1, 2, 11-18) has discussed the rate of elimination and the distribution of 1,2,5,6-dibenzanthracene9,10-C14 and of 3,4-benzpyrene-5-C14 in mouse