To improve the reliability of interpretation of long-term animal test results and to simplify their use for regulatory purposes, a standardized nomenclature for the lesions observed in the tests is essential. This Classification of Rodent Tumours will help overcome some of the traditional inter-pathologist variability in diagnosis. Scientists from both academia and industry in many countries have closely cooperated to arrive at a consensus on the descriptions of all the types of tumour and pre-neoplastic lesion encountered in laboratory work and it is believed that this will lead to a significant enhancement of the quality of regulatory decision-making with respect to human exposure to toxic substances.
