The Monographs Programme of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. A brief history of its Preamble.

Since the early 1970s, the Monographs published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) apply rigorous procedures for the scientific review and evaluation of carcinogenic hazards. The Preamble to the IARC Monographs describes the objective and scope of the Monographs Programme, the scientific principles and procedures used in developing a Monograph, the types of evidence considered, and the scientific criteria that guide the evaluations. This article presents an overview of the historical development of the Preamble from the time it began to take shape in the late 1970s up to and including the most recent update in 2019.

Concordance between sites of tumor development in humans and in experimental animals for 111 agents that are carcinogenic to humans.

Since the inception of the in the early 1970s, this has developed 119 Volumes on more than 1000 agents for which there exists some evidence of cancer risk to humans. Of these, 120 agents were found to meet the criteria for classification as (Group 1). Volume 100 of the , compiled in 2008-2009 and published in 2012, provided a review and update of the 107 Group 1 agents identified as of 2009.

Key characteristics of 86 agents known to cause cancer in humans.

Since the inception of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in the early 1970s, the has evaluated more than 1000 agents with respect to carcinogenic hazard; of these, up to and including Volume 119 of the , 120 agents met the criteria for classification as (Group 1). Volume 100 of the provided a review and update of Group 1 carcinogens. These agents were divided into six broad categories: (I) pharmaceuticals; (II) biological agents; (III) arsenic, metals, fibers, and dusts; (IV) radiation; (V) personal habits and indoor combustions; and (VI) chemical agents and related occupations.

Overview of biological mechanisms of human carcinogens.

This review summarizes the carcinogenic mechanisms for 109 Group 1 human carcinogens identified as causes of human cancer through Volume 106 of the IARC Monographs. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluates human, experimental and mechanistic evidence on agents suspected of inducing cancer in humans, using a well-established weight of evidence approach. The monographs provide detailed mechanistic information about all carcinogens.

Development of a database on tumors and tumor sites in humans and in experimental animals for 'Group 1 agents identified through volume 109 of the .

Volume 100 in the series of comprises an update and review of relevant information on all agents determined to induce cancer in humans. These Group 1 agents are categorized in 6 (Volumes 100A-F) published in 2012. This paper describes the methodology and stringent criteria used in the creation of a comprehensive database on tumors noted in animals and humans for the carcinogens reviewed in Volume 100, and for additional Group 1 agents that were identified in subsequent through Volume 109.

Development of a database on key characteristics of human carcinogens.

A database on mechanistic characteristics of human carcinogenic agents was developed by collecting mechanistic information on agents identified as human carcinogens (Group 1) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in the . A two-phase process is described for the construction of the database according to 24 toxicological endpoints, derived from appropriate test systems that were acquired from data obtained from the mechanisms sections of the IARC Monographs (Section 4) and a supplementary PubMed search. These endpoints were then aligned with 10 key characteristics of human carcinogens that reflect the broader attributes of these agents relating to the development of cancer in humans.

Key Characteristics of Carcinogens as a Basis for Organizing Data on Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis.

Background: A recent review by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) updated the assessments of the > 100 agents classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans (IARC Monographs Volume 100, parts A-F). This exercise was complicated by the absence of a broadly accepted, systematic method for evaluating mechanistic data to support conclusions regarding human hazard from exposure to carcinogens.

Objectives And Methods: IARC therefore convened two workshops in which an international Working Group of experts identified 10 key characteristics, one or more of which are commonly exhibited by established human carcinogens.

Use of mechanistic data in the IARC evaluations of the carcinogenicity of polychlorinated biphenyls and related compounds.

The IARC Monographs are a series of scientific reviews that identify environmental factors that can increase the risk of cancer in humans. In its first part, the principles and procedures of the IARC Monographs evaluations are summarized. In a second part, we present the most recent IARC evaluation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), performed in February 2013: PCBs and dioxin-like PCBs were both classified into group 1 "carcinogens," while PBBs were evaluated as "probably carcinogenic to humans" (group 2A).

Preventable exposures associated with human cancers.

Information on the causes of cancer at specific sites is important to cancer control planners, cancer researchers, cancer patients, and the general public. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monograph series, which has classified human carcinogens for more than 40 years, recently completed a review to provide up-to-date information on the cancer sites associated with more than 100 carcinogenic agents. Based on IARC's review, we listed the cancer sites associated with each agent and then rearranged this information to list the known and suspected causes of cancer at each site.