Prenatal Exposure to Chemical Carcinogens and Its Effect on Subsequent Generations

That exposure of pregnant animals to chemical carcinogens results in the occurrence of tumors in the progeny is well documented. Evidence has been accumulated on at least 38 chemicals pertaining to different chemical groups. The experimental evidence was followed by observations in humans regarding the increased risk of cancer in daughters of women who received stilbestrol during pregnancy. Additional experimental evidence is accumulating on the possibility that exposure during pregnancy results in an increased incidence of tumors for more than one generation of untreated descendants. Studies done on mice with DMBA and on rats with MNU and ENU showed that exposure to the carcinogens during pregnancy resulted in a high incidence of tumors in animals of the first generation and in an increased incidence of tumors at specific sites in untreated animals of the second and third generations.