A database of NTP short-term genetic toxicity test results and the results from carcinogenesis tests has been created. This database allows the evaluation of each short-term assay with respect to its ability to predict carcinogenesis or other short-term assay results. It also permits studies of the individual assays with respect to inter- and intra-laboratory reproducibility. Examination of test predictivity as a function of the potency of the short-term test (STT) and carcinogenicity test is continuing. The chemicals being evaluated comprise the 114-chemical dataset used previously to correlate qualitative STT results with carcinogenicity results. The short-term genetic toxicity results are being integrated with other toxicity and biochemical parameters of these chemicals in an attempt to improve the prediction of carcinogenicity and other toxic effects. A number of potency measures have been proposed for the Salmonella and carcinogenesis tests, but there are no commonly-accepted measures of potency for the other STTs, such as in vitro chromosome aberrations, in vitro SCE, or the mouse lymphoma test. The measurements used for Salmonella are being redefined to fit the data from the mammalian cell assays, and are being used to evaluate the relationships of the in vivo tests with the carcinogenic potencies for the same chemicals.
