Arsenic compounds and cancer

Abstract

Exposure to arsenic compounds has been epidemiologically associated with various types of cancers, particularly cancer of the lung among copper smelters and pesticide workers, whereas skin cancers and liver angiosarcomas have been associated with ingestion of arsenic for treatment of skin disorders, especially psoriasis. Attempts to reproduce cancer in animals have been mainly unsuccessful, however. Experimental evidence suggests that arsenic inhibits DNA repair; this might help to explain the somewhat conflicting observations from epidemiologic studies and animal experiments with regard to carcinogenicity, and perhaps also cardiovascular morbidity related to arsenic exposure.