Nickel Carcinogenesis

¹ Professor and Chairman, Department of Laboratory Medicine

Epidemiological studies have implicated nickel as an etiologic agent in cancers of the respiratory tract which occur in nickel workers. To date, more than 254 cases of pulmonary cancer and 79 cases of nasal cancer have been reported among nickel workers in Wales, Canada, Norway, Germany, Russia and Japan.

Several nickel compounds have been shown to be carcinogenic in experimental animals following administration by a variety of routes. There appears to be an inverse correlation between the carcinogenicity of nickel compounds and their solubility in aqueous media.

The clinical significance of nickel as a respiratory carcinogen is enhanced by the presence of nickel in tobacco and asbestos. In these materials, nickel may not only have a direct carcinogenic action, but it may also act indirectly to potentiate the carcinogenicity of polycyclic hydrocarbons, such as 3, 4-benzpyrene.

The demonstration that nickel carbonyl inhibits DNA-dependent RNA synthesis furnishes a mechanism whereby nickel can alter the expression of genetic information. It is speculated that this effect may be involved in tumor initiation.