Chapter 16 - Carcinogenicity of dimethylarsinic acid and relevant mechanisms

Abstract

Arsenic (As) has become a known human carcinogen with the development of neoplasms in humans exposed to As in the general environment and industry. Unfortunately, acute and chronic As exposure still remains a major public health problem in many countries. In particular, drinking water contamination results in increased incidences of cancers at multiple organ sites, especially the skin, the lung, and the urinary bladder, but possibly also in the liver, the kidney, the nasal cavity, and the prostate, in highly exposed populations. However, precise mechanisms by which As induces cancer are unknown, in large part because of the lack of an appropriate animal model.