International Agency for Research on Cancer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids International Agency for Research on Cancer / Centre international de recherche sur le cancer
Org type	Agency
Status	Active
Headquarters	Lyon, France
Website	www.iarc.who.int

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is a special group that works with the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO is part of the United Nations. IARC's main job is to study what causes cancer. They also gather information about how many people get cancer around the world. IARC helps us understand what things in our environment might lead to cancer. They publish important reports called IARC Monographs that explain these findings.

IARC has its own leaders and rules. When it started in 1965, the first member countries were West Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Today, IARC has grown to include 29 member countries.

History of IARC

Exterior of the main building of the headquarters for the International Agency of Research on Cancer

The idea for IARC started in 1963. A journalist named Yves Poggioli, whose wife had cancer, wrote a letter to a French leader. He asked for an international center to fight cancer. He even suggested using money from nuclear weapon budgets to fund it.

This idea touched many important people in France. They wrote to the French president, Charles de Gaulle. President de Gaulle liked the idea and contacted the head of the World Health Organization. The project quickly moved forward.

IARC was officially created on May 20, 1965. It became the special cancer agency of the World Health Organization. Its main office is in Lyon, France.

Many directors have led IARC over the years. These include John Higginson (1966–1981), Lorenzo Tomatis (1982–1993), Paul Kleihues (1994–2003), Peter Boyle (2004–2008), and Christopher Wild (2009–2018). Since 2019, Elisabete Weiderpass has been the director.

IARC Monographs: Understanding Cancer Causes

In 1970, IARC started getting many questions about what things were known to cause cancer. So, they decided to create a series of reports called the IARC Monographs. These reports help identify things that might cause cancer.

IARC uses groups of experts to decide if something can cause cancer. They look at studies done on humans and animals. They also look at other important information. They place agents, mixtures, and exposures into five different groups. This helps us understand how strong the evidence is for something causing cancer.

It's important to know that these groups are about how likely something is to cause cancer. They don't say how much of something you need to be exposed to. They also don't say how much your risk of cancer might go up.

Group 1: Definitely Carcinogenic to Humans

This group means there is strong evidence that something causes cancer in humans. This evidence usually comes from studies on people. It can also come from strong evidence in animal studies.

• Examples: Tobacco smoke, alcoholic drinks, Chinese-style salted fish, and processed meats.

Group 2A: Probably Carcinogenic to Humans

This group means something probably causes cancer in humans. There is some evidence from human studies. There is also strong evidence from animal studies.

• Examples: Fumes from high-temperature frying, working as a hairdresser or barber, red meat, and working night shifts.

Group 2B: Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans

This group means something might cause cancer in humans. There is limited evidence from human studies. There is less strong evidence from animal studies.

• Examples: Working in textile factories, printing processes, traditional Asian pickled vegetables, and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (like from cell phones).

Group 3: Not Classifiable as to its Carcinogenicity to Humans

This group means there isn't enough evidence to say if something causes cancer in humans. There isn't enough evidence from human or animal studies.

Many substances fall into this group. It doesn't mean they are safe or don't cause cancer. It just means more research is needed. This is especially true if many people are exposed to them. As of August 2019, about half of all things IARC has looked at are in this group.

Group 4: Probably Not Carcinogenic to Humans

This group means something probably does not cause cancer in humans. There is evidence that it does not cause cancer in humans or animals.

As of 2018, only one substance, caprolactam, is in this group.

Member Countries

The first five countries to join IARC were the US, France, Italy, West Germany, and the UK.

Since then, 23 other countries have joined. Three countries have left IARC over time.

See also

• Air pollution
• European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
• European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)
• Genotoxic
• Mutagen
• National Cancer Institute (US)
• Toxicology