Arsenic trioxide versus tetraarsenic oxide in biomedical research: misunderstandings and misinterpretations

Abstract

This work presents an analytical chemist's view on the sometimes unconscious use of arsenic trioxide in (bio)medical research. Arsenic trioxide is a frequently used chemical in cancer treatment research and its action to various malignant cells has been extensively studied and published. Unfortunately some research articles show trivial errors with regards to background knowledge of the chemical, handling the chemical, experimental design and interpretation of results like e.g. in a range of articles comparing advantages of tetraarsenic oxide over arsenic trioxide (dimeric/monomeric) although the dissolution of both yields the same active compound (HAsO(2)). To fully understand the implications of these errors we will highlight some of them with the intent to harmonize future work in this field.

Arsenic Compounds Arsenic Trioxide and Tetraarsenic Oxide Attenuate 3-Methylcholanthrene-Induced Cytotoxicity in Human Keratinocytes

“…The mechanisms underlying the anti-cancer action of As 2 O 3 are complex and involve partial cytodifferentiation, inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis and inhibition of angiogenesis [13,14] . Tetraarsenic Oxide (As 4 O 6 ), another trivalent arsenic compound has different physical and chemical properties from those of As 2 O 3 [15,16] . The anticancer properties of As 4 O 6 in vitro and in vivo have been previously reported [17] .…”