Arsenite promotes intestinal tumor cell proliferation and invasion by stimulating epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Arsenite (AS) is a ubiquitous environmental element that is widely present in food, soil, and water. Environmental exposure to AS represents a major global health concern, because AS is a well-established human carcinogen. We hypothesize that low concentration of AS could enhance metastasis and proliferation of transformed cancer cells by promoting EMT. To test this hypothesis, we treated human colorectal cancer cells with low concentration of AS, and then measured the multiple readouts of cell viability, proliferation, migration, and adhesion in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, our data indeed strongly support our hypothesis and shed novel light into this important pathophysiological process. These novel insights are not only of high interests to basic cancer research, but may also have direct implications in cancer prevention and treatment.