Diets rich in vegetables are associated with a low incidence of colon cancer. Since plant sterols are plentiful in vegetarian diets, we studied the effect of β-sitosterol on colon tumor formation in rats treated with the carcinogen N-methyl-N-nitrosourea. We demonstrated that β-sitosterol nullified in part the effect of this direct-acting carcinogen on the colon. We suggest that plant sterols may have a protective dietary action to retard colon tumor formation. The beneficial effects of vegetarian diets may be enhanced because of the presence of these compounds.

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This work was supported by Grant CA-18651 from NIH as part of the National Large Bowel Cancer Project and Grant 7326-03 from the Veterans Administration.

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©1980 American Association for Cancer Research.
1980
Cancer Research, Inc.