Colorectal cancer （CRC） is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, and inflammatory bowel diseases and dysregulated cell proliferation play important roles in colorectal carcinogenesis. Therefore, inhibition of inflammatory signaling and cell proliferation is used as a major strategy for chemoprevention of CRC. In the present study, it was found that IC5, a dithiocarbamate derivative, could inhibit the proliferation of LoVo human colon cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 of 22 gM. The anti-proliferation effect of IC5 was accompanied by a significant cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase. Further study revealed that IC5 significantly inhibited NF-~B signaling in LoVo cells, suggesting that IC5 could inhibit inflammatory responses. We then evaluated the in vivo efficacy of IC5 to inhibit colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis using an azoxymethane （AOM）/dextran sodium sulfate （DSS） mouse model. AOM/DSS treatment resulted in a CRC incidence of 58.3%, while the incidences were decreased to 37.5% and 25% in mice orally administered with 50 and 100 mg/kg IC5, respectively. In addition, IC5 also reduced the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and asparatate aminotransferase. Taken together, these results suggested that IC5 could prevent colitis-associated colorectal carcinogenesis, and more attention should be paid to it as a cancer chemopreventive agent in further investigation.
