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Trichothecenes, Zearalenone, and other Carcinogenic Metabolites of Fusarium and Related Microfungi

Advances in Cancer Research, ISSN: 0065-230X, Vol: 45, Issue: C, Page: 217-290
1985
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Article Description

This chapter presents the epidemiological and experimental evidence showing the importance of secondary metabolites of Fusarium microfungi in the etiologies of the human cancers of sex organs, the digestive tract and the brain. Fusarial secondary metabolites are sporadically present in livestock feeds and have been recognized as the cause of a variety of disorders, “mycotoxicoses,” some of which are fatal. The carcinogenic potentialities of fusarial mycotoxins have yet to be fully evaluated. Though the available experimental data are scanty, epidemiological and circumstantial evidence strongly indicates that the prevention of common human cancers may largely depend on the decrease or elimination of carcinogenic mycotoxins from the environment and food. Large scale disasters caused by mycotoxins occurred in people who were usually undernourished in the form of ergotism among populations consuming rye bread contaminated with ergot alkaloids produced by Claviceps purpurea. The greater efficacy of few large doses of such “natural” carcinogens over that of continuous low dosage tends to induce tolerance. The main hazards of mycotoxins appear related to the occasional exposure to very high levels as a result of unusual weather conditions.

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