Evaluation of six short term tests for detecting organic chemical carcinogens and recommendations for their use

Six short term tests for detecting carcinogenicity have been evaluated using 120 compounds, of which half were carcinogens and the rest non-carcinogens. The results obtained indicate that the Ames test and a "cell transformation" assay are both sufficiently sensitive to carcinogenicity, or the lack of it, in the compounds studied to enable them to be employed for detecting potential carcinogens. The consequences of using short term tests under various screening conditions have been explored. In order to have confidence in the results obtained for new or previously untested compounds it is important to use such tests in a carefully controlled manner.