On the relationship between carcinogenicity and acute toxicity.
Parodi et al. and Zeise et al. found a surprising statistical correlation (or association) between acute toxicity and carcinogenic potency. In order to shed light on the questions of whether or not it is a causal correlation, and whether or not it is a statistical or tautological artifact, we have compared the correlations for the NCI/NTP data set with those for chemicals not in this set. Carcinogenic potencies were taken from the Gold et al. database. We find a weak correlation with an average value of TD50/LD50 = 0.04 for the non-NCI data set, compared with TD50/LD50 = 0.15 for the NCI data set. We conclude that it is not easy to distinguish types of carcinogens on the basis of whether or not they are acutely toxic.
Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussets 02138.
B
B
Metzger
E
E
Crouch
R
R
Wilson
D000818:Animals; D015197:Carcinogenicity Tests; D002273:Carcinogens; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D007256:Information Systems; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D012307:Risk Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D014116:Toxicology
D002273:Carcinogens