Critique of dose response in carcinogenesis

Waddell, WJ

HERO ID

532700

Reference Type

Journal Article

Subtype

Review

Year

2006

Language

English

PMID

16898170

HERO ID 532700
Material Type Review
In Press No
Year 2006
Title Critique of dose response in carcinogenesis
Authors Waddell, WJ
Journal Human & Experimental Toxicology
Volume 25
Issue 7
Page Numbers 413-436
Abstract A few landmarks in the development of dose response in toxicology are presented, with an explanation of why dose should only be considered on a logarithmic scale. Examples are shown, illustrating that the current practice of labeling dose-response curves for carcinogenesis as supralinear, linear or sublinear, is meaningless unless the dose-response scales are defined. Since many reports labeling such curves as supralinear, linear, or sublinear are carried out with dose on a linear scale, the scientific significance of the shape of the curve is obscured. Examples of dose-response curves for carcinogenesis from 2-acetylaminofluorene, N-nitrosodiethylamine, aflatoxins, and radium are shown. In addition, more than 500 National Toxicology Program Technical Reports (NTP-TR) on carcinogenicity were examined; from this database, three groups of studies were selected. The first group consisted of those studies in which the lowest dose produced no tumors and the study had a positive dose-response. The second group consisted of those studies with three or more doses, with a positive dose response producing tumors, but in which there were no tumors in the control group. The third group of more than 50 studies was from NTP-TR-00 to NTP-TR-52 that had only two data points with a positive dose response. These studies were all evaluated on the Rozman et al. scale, since it conforms to the laws of nature and allows evaluation of all doses. It was observed that virtually all of these NTP-TR carcinogenicity studies show a linear response when dose is on this logarithmic scale; a clear threshold for carcinogenicity is typical for nearly all of these chemicals. An exponential dose response curve was a better fit for a few, but experimental error could account for this deviation from linearity. It is pointed out that there is strong experimental evidence that the mere presence of DNA adducts does not necessarily lead to tumor production. Hormesis probably applies to carcinogenesis and proof of this will require abandoning the no threshold concept. Experiments showing that cumulative dose is a better metric than daily dose may require reevaluating almost all carcinogenicity studies.
Doi 10.1191/0960327106ht633oa
Pmid 16898170
Url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-33746540007&doi=10.1191%2f0960327106ht633oa&partnerID=40&md5=34e04a7fcfb3ad5a8b268bbfc7099270
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Is Public Yes
Language Text English
Keyword carcinogenesis; dose response; logarithmic; lognormal; linear; threshold; dna adduct formation; rat-liver; n-nitrosodiethylamine; risk-assessment; fed 2-acetylaminofluorene; nongenotoxic carcinogens; chronic toxicity; thresholds; hormesis; tumors
Is Qa No