Department of Philosophy, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.
J Eval Clin Pract. 2019 Dec;25(6):955-961. doi: 10.1111/jep.13226. Epub 2019 Jul 9.
This paper analyses the methods of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) for evaluating the carcinogenicity of various agents. I identify two fundamental evidential principles that underpin these methods, which I call Evidential Proximity and Independence. I then show, by considering the 2018 evaluation of the carcinogenicity of styrene and styrene-7,8-oxide, that these principles have been implemented in a way that can lead to inconsistency. I suggest a way to resolve this problem: admit a general exception to Independence and treat the implementation of Evidential Proximity more flexibly where this exception applies. I show that this suggestion is compatible with the general principles laid down in the 2019 version of IARC's methods guide, its Preamble to the Monographs.
本文分析了国际癌症研究机构（IARC）评估各种物质致癌性的方法。我确定了这一方法所依据的两个基本证据原则，我称之为证据接近原则和证据独立性原则。然后，通过考虑 2018 年对苯乙烯和苯乙烯-7,8-氧化物致癌性的评估，我表明这些原则的实施方式可能导致不一致。我提出了一种解决这个问题的方法：承认对证据独立性的一般例外，并在适用该例外的情况下更灵活地处理证据接近原则的实施。我表明，这一建议与 IARC 方法指南 2019 年版及其专论前言中规定的一般原则是一致的。
