7,12-Dimethylbenzanthracene is an immunosuppressor

Immunosuppression

Immunosuppression involves an act that reduces the activation or efficacy of the immune system. Some portions of the immune system itself have immuno-suppressive effects on other parts of the immune system, and immunosuppression may occur as an adverse reaction to treatment of other...

 and a powerful organ-specific laboratory carcinogen

Carcinogen

A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that is an agent directly involved in causing cancer. This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes...

. Also known as 7,12-dimethylbenz[α]anthracene or DMBA, this substance is widely used in many research laboratories studying cancer. DMBA serves as a tumor initiator

Tumor initiation

Tumor initiation is a process in which normal cells are changed so that they are able to form tumors. It is the first phase in tumor development. Substances that cause cancer can be tumor initiators.-External links:...

 by making necessary mutations. Tumor promotion

Tumor promotion

Tumor promotion is a process in which existing tumors are stimulated to grow. It is the second phase in tumor development. Tumor promoters are not able to cause tumors to form.-External links:* entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms...

 can be induced with treatments of TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate

12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate

12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate , also commonly known as tetradecanoylphorbol acetate, tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate, and phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate , is diester of phorbol and a potent tumor promoter often employed in biomedical research to activate the signal transduction enzyme protein...

) in some models of two-stage carcinogenesis. This allows for a greatly accelerated rate of tumor growth, making many cancer studies possible.