Perspectives

Abstract

Although the work that has been described in this volume has clearly shown the importance of arachidonate metabolism in tumor promotion and many associated cellular processes, there are still many unanswered questions. This is quite understandable since we are dealing with a very complex area of research. It is well known that tumor promotion, at least in mouse skin, is a multistage process involving many interrelated cellular processes. Since inflammation and epidermal hyperplasia are always associated with skin tumor promotion, the role of arachidonic acid metabolism in tumor promotion as well as many other cellular processes may simply be related to inflammation and hyperplasia. It should be emphasized that not all inflammatory and hyperplastic agents are skin tumor promoters (1). Current information suggests that the hyper-plasia involved in skin tumor promotion may be related to a selection for a specific epidermal cell type or subpopulation that has been altered in some way by the tumor initiator (2).