Chronic gastric ulcers are not predisposed to tumor formation when exposed to a low dose of carcinogen.

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether chronic gastric ulcers in the rat are predisposed to tumor formation when exposed to a usually noncarcinogenic dose of the carcinogen, N-Methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Two groups of rats were prepared; one subjected to a standard ulcer-producing operation, the other as control. Both groups were given oral MNNG (100 mg/liter as drinking water) for 12 weeks, the carcinogen was then stopped and replaced with tap water, and the experiment terminated at 52 weeks. Results showed that a low dose of carcinogen (200 mg) did not induce tumor formation in any of the normal rats. In the presence of a chronic gastric ulcer, only intestinal metaplasia and hyperplastic glandular nodules were observed, but there were no gastric tumors. It is concluded that the presence of a chronic gastric ulcer did not increase the likelihood of gastric tumor formation in rats treated with a noncarcinogenic dose of the carcinogen MNNG.