The relationship between the carcinogenicity and mutagenicity of nitrosamines in a hepatocyte-mediated mutagenicity assay.

A quantitative relationship was established for 26 nitrosamines between their carcinogenic effectiveness in experimental animals and their mutagenic activity in a mammalian cell-mediated assay. Mutagenesis was measured in Chinese hamster V79 cells co-cultivated with primary rat hepatocytes, which are capable of activating nitrosamines. Resistance to ouabain and to 6-thioguanine served as the genetic markers.