Overview and status of in vitro transformation

The development of standardized assay procedures has permitted the exploitation of cell culture systems as bioassay tools for the detection of chemical carcinogens. These systems fall generally into 3 classes: diploid cell strains, Syrian hamster embryo cells; cell lines, mouse BALB/c-3T3 and mouse C3H-10T1/2; and cells+virus, Fischer rat cells infected with Rauscher leukemia virus and Syrian hamster embryo cells infected with adenovirus. The results accumulated to date show a good correlation between transformation response in cell culture and carcinogenicity of chemicals in whole animal studies. The major advantages of these systems are their relative brevity (10 days-6 weeks) and resultant low costs, their agreement with whole animal bioassays, and their direct biological relevance to the carcinogenic process. The present major disadvantages are the uncertain nature of the metabolic capabilities of the target cells and the lack of a metabolic activation system that is reliable and adaptable for routine bioassays. The development of epithelial cell systems such as breast, liver, lung, and skin may solve the problem of carcinogen metabolism as well as provide target cells that are representative of major organ sites for cancer in man. The rational use of cell culture bioassays for neoplastic transformation is a valuable component of the toxicological armamentarium to assess risk to humans from exposure to chemicals.