Aflatoxins

More than 50 years of research on the carcinogenic effects of aflatoxin has yielded an extensive body of literature, spanning many basic and applied fields of study. Few chemical carcinogens have been as thoroughly studied at as many levels of detail, resulting in volumes devoted to aflatoxins’ fungal biosynthesis, mammalian biochemistry, viral interactions, exposure surveillance, and more. A comprehensive review of this literature would itself require an encyclopedic undertaking—and yet may still be incomplete in its coverage. Therefore, the following chapter will cover several topics with only broad strokes—e.g., mycology and exposure surveillance—instead directing the reader to more comprehensive reviews. Greater detail will be provided on aflatoxin metabolism, toxicology, and epidemiology, topics which are most directly relevant to its place as one of the most potent human carcinogens known.