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Julia H. Carter,¹ Harry W. Carter,¹ James A. Deddens,² Bernadette M. Hurst,¹ Michael H. George,³ and Anthony B. DeAngelo³

¹Wood Hudson Cancer Research Laboratory, Newport, Kentucky, USA; ²Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; ³Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

Dichloroacetic acid (DCA) is carcinogenic to the B6C3F₁ mouse and the F344 rat. Given the carcinogenic potential of DCA in rodent liver and the known concentrations of this compound in drinking water, reliable biologically based models to reduce the uncertainty of risk assessment for human exposure to DCA are needed. Development of such models requires identification and quantification of premalignant hepatic lesions, identification of the doses at which these lesions occur, and determination of the likelihood that these lesions will progress to cancer. In this study we determined the dose response of histopathologic changes occurring in the livers of mice exposed to DCA (0.05-3.5 g/L) for 26-100 weeks. Lesions were classified as foci of cellular alteration smaller than one liver lobule (altered hepatic foci ; AHF) , foci of cellular alteration larger than one liver lobule (large foci of cellular alteration ; LFCA) , adenomas (ADs) , or carcinomas (CAs) . Histopathologic analysis of 598 premalignant lesions revealed that a) each lesion class had a predominant phenotype ; b) AHF, LFCA, and AD demonstrated neoplastic progression with time ; and c) independent of DCA dose and length of exposure effects, some toxic/adaptive changes in non-involved liver were related to this neoplastic progression. A lesion sequence for carcinogenesis in male B6C3F₁ mouse liver has been proposed that will enable development of a biologically based mathematical model for DCA. Because all classes of premalignant lesions and CAs were found at both lower and higher doses, these data are consistent with the conclusion that nongenotoxic mechanisms, such as negative selection, are relevant to DCA carcinogenesis at lower doses where DCA genotoxicity has not been observed. Key words: B6C3F₁ mice, dichloracetic acid, drinking water disinfection by-products, hepatocarcinogenicity, histopathology, liver toxicity. Environ Health Perspect 111:53-64 (2003) . doi:10.1289/ehp.5442 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 2 December 2002]