The key difference between mutagen and carcinogen is that mutagen is any substance that causes changes in the genetic material of an organism, while carcinogen is any substance that causes cancer in an organism.
Mutagens and carcinogens are two hazardous agents that are able to cause permanent changes in cell function and cell division. These changes lead to lethal diseases in organisms. They are avoided in any industry unless there is no other alternative. This is because they are directly linked to cancer formation.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Mutagen
3. What is a Carcinogen
4. Similarities – Mutagen and Carcinogen
5. Mutagen vs Carcinogen in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Mutagen vs Carcinogen
What is a Mutagen?
Mutagen is any physical or chemical agent that causes changes in the genetic material of an organism. Normally, a mutagen increases the frequency of mutations above the natural level. The majority of mutations cause cancer in animals. Therefore, such mutagens can be considered as carcinogenic as well. Moreover, some agents become mutagenic when they move through cellular processes. The process that modifies DNA through mutagens is called mutagenesis. However, not all mutations are caused by mutagens. Such mutations are called spontaneous mutations. Spontaneous mutations are due to spontaneous hydrolysis, errors in DNA replication, repair, and recombination.
Figure 01: Mutagen
There are different types of mutagens, including physical mutagens (ionization radiation, ultraviolet radiation, radioactive decay), DNA reactive chemicals (reactive oxygen species, deaminating agents like nitrous acids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), alkylating agents such as ethylnitrosourea, aromatic compounds, bromine and some compounds that combine bromine in their structure, sodium azide, psoralen, and benzene), base analog (5-bromo uracil), intercalating agents (ethidium bromide and proflavine), metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and nickel) and biological agents (transposons, Rous sarcoma virus and Helicobacter pyroli).
Antioxidants are antimutagenic compounds that may help remove reactive oxygen species or harmful chemicals. They are found naturally in fruits and vegetables. Some antioxidants are vitamin A, carotenoid precursors, vitamin C, vitamin E, and polyphenols. Furthermore, many mutagens, such as cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, daunorubicin, and doxorubicin, etc., are used in anticancer therapy because they are highly toxic to proliferating cells.
What is a Carcinogen?
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that potentially causes cancer in an organism. This can be due to their ability to damage the genome or due to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. To date, over 500 carcinogens have been identified that are able to cause possible carcinogenic activity in humans. These substances include asbestos, automobile exhaust, processed meat, ultraviolet rays, gamma rays, alpha particles, dioxins, tobacco smoke, radon, crispy, brown foods, formaldehyde, herbicides like glyphosate, aflatoxin B1, hepatitis B virus, human papillomavirus, dust and traces of metals, etc.
Figure 02: Carcinogen
Moreover, co-carcinogens are chemicals that do not necessarily cause cancer, but they promote the activity of other carcinogens. A good example is the overconsumption of beta-carotene, which promotes lung cancer in people. The human body makes an attempt to eliminate a carcinogen through a process called biotransformation once it enters the human body. In this process, the body carries out certain reactions to make the carcinogen more water-soluble. Then it can be removed from the body easily.
What are the Similarities Between Mutagen and Carcinogen?
- Mutagens and carcinogens are two hazardous agents that are able to cause permanent changes in cell function and cell division.
- Mutagens can be carcinogenic as well.
- The changes caused by mutagens and carcinogens lead to lethal diseases in organisms.
- They can be physical substances, chemical substances, or biological organisms.
- Both of them are either artificial substances or naturally present in the environment.
- Antioxidants can work against both mutagens and carcinogens and reduce their harmful effect.
What is the Difference Between Mutagen and Carcinogen?
Mutagen is an agent that causes changes in the genetic material of an organism, while carcinogen is an agent that potentially causes cancer in an organism. Thus, this is the key difference between mutagen and carcinogen. Furthermore, the process that modifies genetic material through a mutagen is called mutagenesis, while the process that forms cancer through a carcinogen is called carcinogenesis.
The below infographic presents the differences between mutagen and carcinogen in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.
Summary – Mutagen vs Carcinogen
Mutagens and carcinogens are two hazardous agents that show the potential to cause permanent changes in cell function and cell division. This ultimately leads to lethal diseases like cancers in humans. Mutagen is any substance that has the capability to generate a mutation in the genetic material of an organism. A carcinogen is any substance that has the ability to cause cancer in an organism. Most of the mutagens are carcinogens, but not all. Similarly, most carcinogens are mutagens, but not all. So, this summarizes the difference between mutagen and carcinogen.
Reference:
1. “Mutagen.” Genome.gov.
2.“Carcinogen.” An Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Forward mutagenesis” By © 2014 Lena M. Kutscher and Shai Shaham. – Kutscher L. M., Shaham S. Forward and reverse mutagenesis in C. elegans (January 17, 2014), WormBook, ed. The C. elegans Research Community, WormBook, doi/10.1895/wormbook.1.167.1 (CC BY-SA 2.5) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Effects of Carcinogen Exposure on Healthy DNA” By Sobeckal – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia