Human carcinogenic risk evaluation, Part V: The national toxicology program vision for assessing the human carcinogenic hazard of chemicals.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) has over 25 years of experience in the design, performance, and interpretation of assays for identifying carcinogenic hazards to humans. Through the years we have examined alternative assays and adjunct assays to the standard rodent cancer bioassay including batteries of genetic toxicity tests and genetically modified mouse models. As our collective understanding of carcinogenesis advances, toxicologists and regulatory scientists will at some point begin to rely on mechanism-based biological observations rather than the two-year rodent bioassay to predict human cancer hazards. The goal of the NTP Vision for the 21st Century is to develop the science base that will advance the use of mechanism-based biological observations, eventually providing a replacement for disease-specific toxicology models in the protection of public health.