Twelve male Sprague-Dawley rats were used for the study. Six rats were injected with benzo(a)pyrene (BP); the other six rats served as the control. Twenty-four hours after injection, hepatocytes were isolated and cultured. The cultured plates were divided into 5 groups and treated with absolute ethanol (control), butylated hydroxytoluene, vitamin E, ascorbic acid or vitamin Elascorbic acid. After 48 hours, the hepatocytes were harvested for enzyme activation determination. With both control and BP-injected rats, each antioxidant treatment significantly increased glutathione-S-transferase activity. The results suggest that antioxidants may have a detoxifying effect against BP-induced carcinogenesis.