Response of experimental animals to human carcinogens: an analysis based upon the IARC Monographs programme

Only the results of epidemiological studies can be used to establish a causal relationship between an exposure to an agent and human cancer; however, such studies often cannot be carried out due to limitations of population or latent period or to the presence of mixed exposures. It is essential, therefore, that the validity be established of extrapolating to humans the results obtained from long-term carcinogenicity tests in animals. The responses of experimental animals to known and suspected human carcinogens, as evaluated in the IARC Monographs series, were analysed as an indication of the sensitivity of animal tests for predicting human carcinogens. Although the response was high - 84% - it would have been even higher had all the compounds been adequately tested experimentally. An additional finding was that for many exposures causally related to human cancer, there is a target organ in common between humans and at least one animal species, despite many inherent physiological differences. These findings show clearly the importance of experimental carcinogenicity studies in the primary prevention of cancer.