Use of hamster hepatocytes to metabolize carcinogens in an in vitro bioassay.

Adult Syrian golden hamster hepatocytes were shown to have a high capacity to metabolize carcinogens, such as diethylnitrosamine, 2-nitrofluorene, and 4-aminoazobenzene, to a form that transforms mammalian cells. The addition of hepatocytes to the hamster embryo cell transformation system extends its range of usefulness for detecting carcinogens that require metabolic activation.