Background and framework for ILSI's collaborative evaluation program on alternative models for carcinogenicity assessment

The willingness of the agencies involved in the regulation of pharmaceuticals to accept data from newly proposed models for carcinogenicity testing (eg, transgenic animals, neonatal rodent models, initiation-promotion models) has stimulated international interest in gaining experience and a greater understanding of the strengths and limitations of the specific models. Over a 4-year period, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Health and Environmental Science Institute (HESI) has coordinated a large-scale collaborative research program to help to better characterize the responsivenes s of several models proposed for use in carcinogenicity assessment. The overall objective of this partnership among industry, government, and academic scientists was to evaluate the ability of these new models to provide useful information for human cancer risk assessment. This research program reflected a commitment of nearly US$ 35 million by over 50 industrial, government, and academic laboratories from the United States, Europe, and Japan. Evaluation of the models required the development of standardized protocols to allow reproducibility and comparability of data obtained across multiple laboratories. Test compounds were selected on the basis of mechanistically meaningful carcinogenic activity or noncarcinogenicity in the rodent bioassay as well as humans. Criteria were established for dose selection, pathology review, quality control, and for evaluation of study outcome. The database from these studies represents an important contribution to the future application of new models for human cancer risk assessment. Beyond the data, the collaborative process by which the models were evaluated may also represent a prototype for assessing new methods in the future.