DETECTION OF ANEUPLOIDY-INDUCING CARCINOGENS IN THE SYRIAN-HAMSTER EMBRYO (SHE) CELL-TRANSFORMATION ASSAY

As evidenced by the recent report of the Commission of the European Communities (CEEC) project (Detection of Aneugenic Chemicals-CEEC project, 1993), there currently is a great deal of effort towards developing and validating assays to detect aneuploidy-inducing chemicals. In this report, we describe the utility of the Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cell transformation assay for detecting carcinogens with known or suspected aneuploidy-inducing activity. The following carcinogens were tested: asbestos, benomyl, cadmium chloride, chloral hydrate, diethylstilbestrol dipropionate, and griseofulvin. Thiabendazole, a noncarcinogen, was also tested. Chemicals of unknown or inconclusive carcinogenicity data, colcemid, diazepam, econazole nitrate, and pyrimethamine were also evaluated. All of the above chemicals except thiabendazole induced a significant increase in morphological transformation (MT) in SHE cells. Based on these results as well as those published in the literature previously, the SHE cell transformation assay appears to have utility for detecting carcinogens with known or suspected aneuploidy-inducing ability.