carcinogenn.
/kɑːˈsɪnədʒ(ə)n/, /ˈkɑːsᵻnədʒ(ə)n/, /ˈkɑːsn̩ədʒ(ə)n/, U.S. /kɑrˈsɪnədʒ(ə)n/, /ˈkɑrs(ə)nəˌdʒɛn/ Medicine and Biology.
Any agent that (directly or indirectly) causes cancer or induces malignant transformation of cells. Cf. oncogen n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > diseases of tissue > [noun] > cancer > substance producing
carcinogen1853
co-carcinogen1938
procarcinogen1963
1853 J. Paget Lect. Surg. Pathol. II. xv. 590 Is there one material for cancer, one carcinogen, which..may form different yet closely allied compounds?
1936 Nature 10 Oct. 651/2 This result affords some support for the suggestion that the ‘substrates’ upon which carcinogens act are protein in nature.
1949 F. B. Hutt Genetics of Fowl 428 A sarcoma induced with a chemical carcinogen in Brown Leghorns..grew better in that breed.
1964 Internat. Jrnl. Appl. Radiation & Isotopes 15 767/1 Their thoughts on current theories of the mode of action of chemical, physical and viral carcinogens.
1987 W. Percy Thanatos Syndrome (1988) iii. ix. 221 It's not the calories so much as the sugar metabolism and known carcinogens in chocolate.
2002 F. Spufford Child that Bks. Built (2003) i. 17 Tobacco must deliver its hit of nicotine and its amazing bouquet of fragrant carcinogens, or no one could use it to allay nerves.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1853