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.
Metzger
B
B
Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachussets 02138.
Crouch
E
E
Wilson
R
R
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