Abstract
Human exposure to chemical carcinogens will almost always result in the formation of characteristic adducts with proteins and nucleic acids. This is a consequence of the electrophilic nature of the active metabolites of most carcinogens and the nucleophilic properties of nitrogen atoms present in nucleic acids and sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen atoms in aminoacid residues (1,2). Studies in experimental animals have demonstrated that DNA in target tissue(s) is modified following treatment with many different chemical carcinogens (3). In consequence, there has been much interest in recent years in developing methods to determine the levels of DNA adducts and related damage as an alternative and more relevant measure of human exposure to carcinogens (4). However, in contrast to the situation in experimental animals, only in relatively exceptional cases can DNA from target tissues be obtained from humans and there is, therefore, a need for less invasive methodology which allows access to the same information.
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Shuker, D.E.G. (1991). Non-Invasive Markers of Carcinogen Exposure in Humans. In: Hill, M.J., Giacosa, A. (eds) Causation and Prevention of Human Cancer. Developments in Oncology, vol 63. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3308-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3308-1_2
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