Basic CCC Database Information

In order to do a thorough Cancer Causation Evaluation CCC has developed the Known Associations Cancer and Carcinogen Exposure Database. This Database consists of three main lists. One list, entitled Cancer Types, includes all the cancer types which have been recognized by The International Agency for Research on Carcinogens (IARC) as being caused by a particular cancer-causing exposure. The second list called Carcinogens has two sections to it. The first section lists carcinogen exposures which are known to cause cancer by IARC and the National Toxicology Program (NTP). The second section lists carcinogen exposures which are known to probably cause cancer by IARC and NTP. The third list, entitled Exposure Sites and Behavioral Exposures Known to Cause Cancer, has three sections to it. The first section lists workplaces identified by IARC to be associated with a specific cancer type. The second section lists the environmental exposures recognized by IARC as being known to cause a specific cancer type. The third section lists behavioral activities also identified by IARC as being associated with a specific type of cancer.

The Database is regularly updated by CCC and is used to complete each Cancer Causation Evaluation. The information in all three listed are analyzed to determine whether your particular cancer was caused by a specific carcinogen exposure. Just because you had an exposure to a cancer-causing substance and later were diagnosed with cancer does not in and of itself mean that your cancer was caused by that exposure. The effect of a carcinogen on the human body is very specific. Scientific and epidemiologic studies have been done and scientists have evaluated the data and determined where possible which specific cancers are associated with which carcinogens.

As of May 2017 IARC has identified 129 human carcinogens, found at least 85 specific cancer types caused by those carcinogens, and identified over 240 workplaces, environmental situations, and behavioral activities associated with exposure to those human carcinogens. CCC can use the information now available to determine if you have been exposed to any particular known human carcinogen. If you have been diagnosed with cancer, CCC can further analyze this data and your particular carcinogen exposure history identified in the Carcinogen Exposure Questionnaire to determine if your carcinogen exposure contributed to the development of your specific type of cancer.

Everyone diagnosed with cancer has a right to find out if their cancer may have been caused by a specific cancer-causing substance or situation. In fact, everyone, even those individuals who have not been diagnosed with cancer at this point, have a right to determine if they are currently being exposed to a carcinogen or have been in the past. Armed with this knowledge, people can take steps to decrease their exposures or potential exposures, reduce the exposures of others in their family or community, screen more effectively for any cancer they may be at an increased risk of getting, and through CCC increase the public’s awareness of that particular carcinogen exposure and increased risk of developing cancer. With this knowledge, pressure can be applied to reduce or eliminate the carcinogenic exposure. The use of CCC’s Database can lead to lives being saved!

In addition, as the Database grows, researchers, with your written permission, will be able to access this information and possibly determine that a particular carcinogen now known to cause one specific cancer may also cause another type of cancer as well. Or perhaps, researchers can identify another previously unknown possible cancer-causing substance or situation as being a likely carcinogen. With this heightened suspicion, toxicological and epidemiological studies can be done to determine whether an association does exist. If it is found to be a human carcinogen, the public’s awareness can be increased and exposures can be decreased. Again, lives can be saved through the development and use of CCC’s Known Associations Cancers and Carcinogen Exposures Database.