Ethionine in the analysis of the possible separate roles of methionine and choline deficiencies in carcinogenesis.

The importance of ethionine, the ethyl analogue of methionine, as a metabolic probe to study the possible roles of methionine and choline in liver carcinogenesis has been briefly reviewed. Ethionine-induced liver carcinogenesis is similar in many aspects, including initiation, promotion, and progression, to carcinogenesis with other agents. However, the special role of methionine in preventing virtually all metabolic and pathologic effects of ethionine, including liver cancer, places ethionine in a special position. On the basis of these observations and our current knowledge about choline deficiency in the genesis of liver cancer, we proposed that choline and methionine play separate but overlapping roles in the initiation and promotion of liver carcinogenesis.