Mutagens as carcinogens: development of current concepts.

The earliest work on reactions of mutagenic carcinogens with DNA, in which the author participated, is recalled in a personal reminiscence. Some significant consequences of this approach for studies of the mode of action of mutagenic carcinogens are briefly discussed, with regard to the types of mutation induced, and to current concepts of the involvement of somatic mutation in experimental cancer and in the aetiology of human cancer.