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How is the evaluation carried out by IARC

Posted Date:2025/5/20

How is the evaluation carried out?

A Working Group of independent international experts carries out the evaluation. The independent experts assemble and critically review the scientific evidence according to strict criteria. These criteria focus on determining the strength of the available evidence that the agent causes cancer, as described in the Preamble to the IARC Monographs, which is available here:

https://monographs.iarc.who.int/wpcontent/uploads/2019/07/Preamble-2019.pdf.

The experts review the data available globally on situations in which people are exposed to the agent.

They also critically review three different types of data:

1. Epidemiological studies on cancer in humans exposed to the agent (scientific evidence of carcinogenicity in humans)

2. Experimental studies on cancer in laboratory animals treated with the agent (scientific evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals)

3. Studies on whether the agent has any of the recognized key characteristics of human carcinogens (scientific evidence on carcinogen mechanisms).

During the in-person meeting in Lyon, France, the Working Group finalizes the scientific review and evaluation of these three streams of evidence. The Working Group also combines its conclusions into a consensus overall evaluation of the strength of the evidence of the carcinogenicity of the agent to humans. The Working Group classifies the agent into one of four categories.