Jin Lu, Ming Chu
Arecoline is a controversial composition with pharmacological activity and toxicities, which is speculated to the major cause of oral carcinogensis reported by many studies. However, there is no data or evidence in humans regarding the carcinogenicity of arecoline due to indirect exposure to it. In 2020, arecoline was classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B) on the basis of “strong” mechanistic evidence by International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). In fact, the inference of arecoline leading to carcinogenic processes in oral carcinogensis has not been proven by experiments in vivo. Hence， this review was aimed at evaluating the existing articles regarding the arecoline induced cancer in the animal experiments. The PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine was used to search for publications that investigated the association with the arecoline caused carcinogensis up to August 2022. The search terminology was the keywords “Cancer with arecoline or its metabolite, arecaidine”.The search was conducted under the clear inclusion and exclusion criteria. This review shows that there is insufficient evidence about the carcinogenic effects of arecoline in the animal experiments. The multifactors in betel quid chewing contribute to the oral cancer. The arecoline deemed as the major factor induced oral cancer in previous statement is not proven by experiments in vivo. Our pilot study provides the information associated with arecoline and carcinogensis in animal experiments and proves that there is no solid evidence indicating arecoline lead to cancer in vivo.