Genome instability is a prerequisite for the development of cancer. It occurs when genome maintenance systems fail to safeguard the genome's integrity, whether as a consequence of inherited defects or induced via exposure to environmental agents (chemicals, biological agents and radiation). Thus, genome instability can be defined as an enhanced tendency for the genome to acquire mutations; ranging from changes to the nucleotide sequence to chromosomal gain, rearrangements or loss. This review raises the hypothesis that in addition to known human carcinogens, exposure to low dose of other chemicals present in our modern society could contribute to carcinogenesis by indirectly affecting genome stability. The selected chemicals with their mechanisms of action proposed to indirectly contribute to genome instability are: heavy metals (DNA repair, epigenetic modification, DNA damage signaling, telomere length), acrylamide (DNA repair, chromosome segregation), bisphenol A (epigenetic modification, DNA damage signaling, mitochondrial function, chromosome segregation), benomyl (chromosome segregation), quinones (epigenetic modification) and nano-sized particles (epigenetic pathways, mitochondrial function, chromosome segregation, telomere length). The purpose of this review is to describe the crucial aspects of genome instability, to outline the ways in which environmental chemicals can affect this cancer hallmark and to identify candidate chemicals for further study. The overall aim is to make scientists aware of the increasing need to unravel the underlying mechanisms via which chemicals at low doses can induce genome instability and thus promote carcinogenesis.

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Study of the anticancer properties of thirty-four 3,5-disubstituted-tetrahydro-2H-1,3,5-thiadiazin-2-thione derivatives has been carried out by using cytotoxicity assays against HeLa, HT-29 and Hep G2 cells. The decomposition products of thiadiazinthione 1 m have been studied and their anticancer properties evaluated.

Previous studies have been carried out on the influence of frying fats on the formation of food mutagens, but most of them have been performed on model systems or under cooking conditions that are more frequent in northern countries. The objective of this work was to study the overall mutagenic activity generated in hamburgers and frankfurters deep-fried under cooking conditions that are normal practice in Spain and other Mediterranean countries, in order to determine if there was any modulation of the mutagenic activity with respect to other cooking conditions previously studied. Hamburgers were prepared from beef purchased in a butcher's shop. Frankfurters as well as the oils [olive, marc olive ('orujo'), sunflower and soya bean oil] and butter were purchased in a local supermarket. The samples were fried in a teflon-coated frying pan at 170-180 degrees C for 10, 20 or 30 min. The mutagens were extracted and the mutagenic activity evaluated using the Salmonella mammalian microsome assay with strain TA98. Two independent assays were carried out for each experimental condition. All the hamburgers showed a mutagenic activity that was more than four times higher than that of the controls. Frankfurters showed a lower mutagenic activity than hamburgers (fried under the same conditions) because they have a lower protein content and a higher fat content. Hamburgers fried in olive oil for 10 min showed a significant increase in the number of revertants with respect to the other oils, probably due to the fact that the temperature reached was approximately 10 degrees C higher. Longer frying times significantly increased the number of revertants in samples fried in oils, except in olive oil, probably due to its lower content of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01596309).