Hepatocarcinogenesis by aflatoxin B1: relationships between the cellular localization of the carcinogen and early histological changes in the rat liver.

Aflatoxin B1 (and/or its fluorescent metabolites) was identified by fluorescence microscopy in the liver of rats fed with this carcinogen. The timing of appearance of the carcinogen in the cytoplasm and nuclei of hepatocytes is analysed in relation to the various early histological changes observed in the liver.