"Among U.S. residents, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer at some point in their lifetimes. Research shows that environmental factors trigger diseases like cancer, especially when someone has a family history," said Kenneth Olden, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, which prepared the report for DHHS.
The Report on Carcinogens, Eleventh Edition, referred to as the "RoC," lists cancer-causing agents in two categories -- "known to be human carcinogens" and "reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens." The report now contains 58 "known" and 188 "reasonably anticipated" listings. Federal law requires the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to publish the report every two years.
Six substances have been added to the "known" category:
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are viruses that cause acute or chronic liver disease. They are listed in the report as "known human carcinogens" because studies in humans show that chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections cause liver cancer. Approximately one million United States residents are chronically infected with HBV, which primarily is transmitted through sexual contact (50%) and intravenous drug use (15%).
HCV is the leading cause of liver disease in the United States with more
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Contact: John Peterson
Peterso4@niehs.nih.gov
919-541-7860
NIH/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
31-Jan-2005