All you need to know about IARC, the agency that called out aspartame as a cancer link

The IARC and WHO will release the complementary results of the study jointly on July 14.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said it has assessed the potential carcinogenic effect of aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly used in diet colas, chewing gum, and tea. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the complementary results of the study will be announced jointly on July 14.

"IARC is a specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO) whose objective is to promote international collaboration in cancer research and its prevention," Dr Rengaswamy Sankaranarayanan, IARC’s former head of cancer detection and prevention, told Moneycontrol.

IARC, an interdisciplinary body that brings together skills in epidemiology, laboratory sciences, and biostatistics to identify the causes of cancer, is an autonomous body that sees participation from both developed and developing countries.

"India is also one of the participating members from developing countries," he added.

Since 1971, the global agency has evaluated more than 1,000 agents. In its monograph programme, the IARC identifies and evaluates the preventable causes of cancer in humans.

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According to WHO, IARC evaluates chemicals (e.g., formaldehyde), complex mixtures (e.g., air pollution), occupational exposures (e.g., work in coke production), physical agents (e.g., solar radiation), biological agents (e.g., hepatitis B virus), pharmaceuticals (e.g., diethylstilbestrol), and other important factors (e.g., tobacco smoking).

Evaluating probable cancer-causing agents

Sankaranarayanan, who was also the special advisor on cancer control, said the agency evaluates different agents and preventable causes of cancer in humans.

"The recommendations by the IARC are often widely used by countries across the globe to develop policy and regulations around cancer," he added.

The former head of the cancer screening group at IARC said the IARC Monographs Programme evaluates agents that are suspected to cause cancer after it is recommended by an advisory group of international experts.

"Another working group of independent experts (without conflicts of interest) evaluates the agent and critically reviews the scientific evidence. If they have a conflict of interest, they don’t vote," he added.

After the scientific evaluation, the working group classifies an agent into one of four categories, ranging from carcinogenic to humans to not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.

IARC classification

The categories of the classification indicate the strength of the evidence as to whether an agent is capable of causing cancer (technically called ‘hazard’), but they do not measure the likelihood that cancer will occur (technically called ‘risk’) at a particular level of exposure to the agent.

Long-standing work in cancer research

Sankaranarayanan said the agency has been focusing on third-world cancer problems like cervical, colorectal, breast, and oral cancer.

"They have worked very closely on liver cancer caused by hepatitis. They have been instrumental in the evaluation of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The agency has worked on drafting the policy for the cervical cancer vaccine and its dosing regimen," he added.

Similarly, in June 2020, ICAR said indoor burning of biomass and kerosene fuels is associated with a higher risk of developing several types of digestive cancer.

The study was based on more than 10 years of follow-up of 50,045 participants in the Golestan Cohort Study, which was initiated in 2004 by the Digestive Disease Research Institute of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (Islamic Republic of Iran) in collaboration with IARC and the United States National Cancer Institute.

Dr Pragya Shukla, Head of Department, Clinical Oncology, Delhi State Cancer Institute, said the studies funded by IARC raise an important alert for cancer prevention in different countries.

"It is up to us to evaluate and analyse whether that study or result can be applicable to our population subgroup, as each population subgroup has a different molecular make-up. It definitely needs to be taken seriously and analysed," she added.