Testing for increased carcinogenicity using a survival-adjusted quantal response test.

The linear trend test in proportions is frequently used to analyze the results of animal carcinogenicity experiments. This test has two major advantages over other frequently used tests; it is easily understood and it is simple to calculate. This test, however, fails to correct for treatment-related differences in survival across the experimental groups. A test which is a simple modification of the linear trend test in proportions and which has the same advantages is proposed to correct for differences in survival. The results of this modified test are compared to those of the linear trend test in proportions, the incidental tumor test, the logistic regression score test, the life table test, and the truncated trend test using information on the incidence of combined alveolar/bronchiolar adenomas or carcinomas in female B6C3F1 mice exposed to vinylcyclohexene diepoxide.