Eurocare-2 Survival of Cancer Patients: In Europe in the Late Eighties (Iarc Scientific Publication)

Cyclic DNA adducts are formed by known human carcinogens such as vinyl chloride and benzene and a variety of rodent carcinogens including urethane and halogenated hydrocarbons. Recent evidence suggests that some of these adducts are present in tissues from unexposed human subjects and could be elevated due to oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation induced by different factors (inflammation, dietary fatty acids, and metal storage disorders). Some of the cyclic DNA adducts are shown to be promutagenic in bacterial and mammalian cells. This publication brings together the latest developments in chemistry, biochemistry and repair of cyclic DNA adducts, and evaluates the role of these adducts in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis with special reference to the endogenous processes leading to initiation and/or progression of human cancers.