Reeves A L
Adv Exp Med Biol. 1977;91:13-27. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-0796-9_2.
Beryllium is a proven bone carcinogen in rabbits, and proven pulmonary carcinogen in rats. Median effective doses or concentrations can be computed only with considerable uncertainty; they appear to be in the 10 mg area (as total dose, in divided intravenous injections, expressed as Be for zinc beryllium silicate) for rabbits, and in the 20 alpha/m3 area (as atmospheric concentration for inhalation exposures lasting for at least three months, expressed as Be for beryllium sulfate) for rats. It is also proven that, at least from inhalation, guinea pigs do not develop beryllium cancers. Epidemiologic studies in humans are thus far unconfirmed but do not show increased cancer morbidity among beryllium workers. Current research is aimed at explaining the mechanism of carcinogenic action in the susceptible species, which seems to involve nucleic acid transcriptional interference, or the species specificity, which seems to involve immune mechanisms. No experiments were reported thus far besides the carcinogenesis studies to show that beryllium is a chemical mutagen. In the species thus far tested, there appeared to be mutual exclusion of development of a delayed (cell-mediated) hypersensitivity to beryllium and development of neoplasia from beryllium. Further research on this subject might lead to new possibilities in the understanding of cancer susceptibility.
铍已被证实是家兔的骨致癌物，也是大鼠的肺致癌物。中位有效剂量或浓度的计算存在很大不确定性；家兔的中位有效剂量似乎在10毫克区域（以总剂量计，通过静脉注射给药，以硅酸锌铍中的铍表示），大鼠的中位有效浓度似乎在20微克/立方米区域（以大气浓度计，暴露时间至少持续三个月，以硫酸铍中的铍表示）。此外，已证实豚鼠至少通过吸入不会患铍癌。迄今为止，人类流行病学研究尚未得到证实，但并未显示铍作业工人的癌症发病率增加。目前的研究旨在解释易感物种中的致癌作用机制，这似乎涉及核酸转录干扰，或者物种特异性，这似乎涉及免疫机制。除致癌研究外，目前尚无实验表明铍是一种化学诱变剂。在迄今为止测试的物种中，对铍的迟发型（细胞介导）超敏反应的发展与铍诱导的肿瘤形成似乎相互排斥。对此主题的进一步研究可能会为理解癌症易感性带来新的可能性。
