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The Carcinogenic Potency Project

Phenobarbital, sodium (CAS 57-30-7)
SMILES, InChI and Structure are below.
Rats and Mice: Cancer Test Summary
Rat Target Sites Mouse Target Sites TD50 (mg/kg/day)
Male Female Male Female Rat Mouse
liv liv liv liv 86m 29.7m,P,v

Key to the Table Above

Positivity: For each chemical with a positive (carcinogenic) experiment in the Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB), results are included on carcinogenic potency (TD50) in each species and target sites in males and females. Positivity is determined by an author’s opinion in a published paper. If all experimental results in the CDPB are negative in a sex-species group, “no positive” appears. If the CPDB has no experiments in the sex-species group, “no test” appears. The summary presents the strongest evidence of carcinogenicity in each group. If there are both positive and negative experiments in a sex-species, the negative results are ignored in this Summary Table.
Target Site Codes:   liv = liver. Target sites are listed if any author of published experimental results concluded that tumors were induced in that organ by the test agent. If there is more than one positive experiment in a sex-species, target sites listed may be from more than one experiment, e.g. if liver and lung are both listed, then liver may have been a target in one experiment and lung in another.
TD50: Our standardized measure of carcinogenic potency, TD50, is the daily dose rate in mg/kg body weight/day to induce tumors in half of test animals that would have remained tumor-free at zero dose. Whenever there is more than one positive experiment in a species, the reported TD50 value is a Harmonic Mean calculated using the TD50 value from the most potent target site in each positive experiment.
Superscripts:   m = There is more than one positive experiment in the species, and TD50 values from each positive experiment are used in the calculation of the reported Harmonic mean of TD50. P = 100% of dosed animals had tumors at a target site in an experiment in this species. v = Variation is greater than ten-fold among statistically significant (two-tailed p<0.1) TD50 values from different positive experiments.

The Carcinogenic Potency Database (CPDB) is a unique and widely used international resource of the results of 6540 chronic, long-term animal cancer tests on 1547 chemicals. The CPDB provides easy access to the bioassay literature, with qualitative and quantitative analyses of both positive and negative experiments that have been published over the past 50 years in the general literature through 2001 and by the National Cancer Institute/National Toxicology Program through 2004. The CPDB standardizes the diverse literature of cancer bioassays that vary widely in protocol, histopathological examination and nomenclature, and in the published author’s choices of what information to provide in their papers. Results are reported in the CPDB for tests in rats, mice, hamsters, dogs, and nonhuman primates.

For each experiment, information is included on species, strain, and sex of test animal; features of experimental protocol such as route of administration, duration of dosing, dose level(s) in mg/kg body weight/day, and duration of experiment; experimental results are provided on target organ, tumor type, and tumor incidence; carcinogenic potency (TD50) and its statistical significance; shape of the dose-response, author’s opinion as to carcinogenicity, and literature citation.

Only tests with dosing for at least ¼ the standard lifespan of the species and experiment length at least ½ the lifespan are included in the CPDB. Only routes of administration with whole body exposure are included. Doses are standardized, average dose rates in mg/kg/day. A description of methods used in the CPDB to standardize the diverse literature of animal cancer tests is presented for: 1) Criteria for inclusion of experiments 2) Standardization of average daily dose levels and 3) TD50 estimation for a standard lifespan. See Methods for other details.

TD50 provides a standardized quantitative measure that can be used for comparisons and analyses of many issues in carcinogenesis. The range of TD50 values across chemicals that are rodent carcinogens is more than 100 million-fold. More than half the chemicals tested are positive in at least one experiment.

A plot of all results on each experiment in the CPDB for this chemical is presented below. These results are the source information for the Cancer Test Summary table above.

Phenobarbital, sodium: All Experiments and Citations in CPDB
The definition of each code in the plot below will appear in a pop-up window when the field name in the header line is clicked, e.g., Strain, Site, Path. Each numbered line starts a new experiment and reports protocol information in black. Average daily dose-rates per kg body weight per day are in green. Remaining lines report experimental results in blue.
Abbreviations of fields in header line: # = the line number in the plot of all CPDB chemicals; Xpo = duration of dosing; Xpt = duration of experiment; Site = tissue; Path = tumor type; DR = dose-response; AuOp = author’s opinion about carcinogenicity; LoConf, UpConf = confidence limits (99%) on TD50; Inc = tumor incidence for each dose group.
See Guide to reading the plot for details on each field, using an example of one experiment.
See Help to improve readability, or to fit the plot onto the screen or a printed page. 



Chemical (Synonym) CAS
# Species Sex Strain Route Xpo+Xpt PaperNum        0 Dose  1 Dose 2 Dose  3 Dose          Literature Reference or NCI/NTP:Site Path
Site Path Notes   TD50  DR Pval    AuOp LoConf UpConf   Cntrl   1 Inc  2 Inc   3 Inc                                                        Brkly Code


PHENOBARBITAL, SODIUM  (phenobarbitone, sodium) 57-30-7
4929 M m b6c wat 61w61 2071                          0    83.3mg                                  Herren-Freund;txap,90,183-189;1987
 liv hpa er     no dre   P=1.    -  62.0mg n.s.s.   2/22    2/22
 liv hpc er     no dre   P=1.    -  130.mg n.s.s.   0/22    0/22
4930 M f bal wat 27m28 1772                          0    95.8mg                                      Cavaliere;tumo,72,125-128;1986
 lun ade        1.21gm   P<.5    -  209.mg n.s.s.   7/50    6/30
 liv hpc        no dre   P=1.    -  789.mg n.s.s.   0/50    0/30
 tba mix        no dre   P=1.    -  274.mg n.s.s.  12/50    6/30
4931 M m bal wat 27m27 1772                          0    83.3mg
 lun ade        no dre   P=1.    -  219.mg n.s.s.  19/50    8/30
 liv hpc        no dre   P=1.    -  630.mg n.s.s.   0/50    0/30
 tba mix        no dre   P=1.    -  246.mg n.s.s.  22/50    8/30
4932 M m cb6 eat 60w60 2186n                         0    85.0mg                               Evans;txpy,20,585-594;1992/pers.comm.
 liv esn kr     184.mg   P<.1       45.2mg n.s.s.   0/20    2/20
 liv bsn kr     no dre   P=1.       117.mg n.s.s.   0/20    0/20
 liv hpc kr     no dre   P=1.       117.mg n.s.s.   0/20    0/20
4933 M m cb6 eat 80w80 2186r                         0    85.0mg
 liv bsn kr     154.mg   P<.3       24.9mg n.s.s.   0/5     1/5
 liv esn kr     154.mg   P<.3       24.9mg n.s.s.   0/5     1/5
 liv hpc kr     no dre   P=1.       51.8mg n.s.s.   0/5     0/5
4934 M m cb6 eat 14m23 2186u                         0    51.0mg
 liv esn er     290.mg   P<.09      71.3mg n.s.s.   0/20    2/19
 liv hpc er     2.92gm   P<.9       111.mg n.s.s.   8/190   1/19
 liv bsn er     no dre   P=1.       104.mg n.s.s.   4/20    2/19
4935 M m cb6 eat 23m23 2186w                         0    85.0mg
 liv esn er     77.7mg   P<.0005 +  37.1mg 203.mg   0/20   10/20
 liv bsn er     834.mg   P<.8       91.9mg n.s.s.   4/20    5/20
 liv hpc er     8.72gm   P<.9       640.mg n.s.s.   8/190   6/125
4936 M f cf1 eat 26m26 89                            0    65.0mg                                         Thorpe;fctx,11,433-442;1973
 liv mix e      44.2mg   P<.0005 +  22.5mg 122.mg  10/44   21/28
 liv lct e      128.mg   P<.0005 +  60.1mg 352.mg   0/44    9/28
 lun tum e      no dre   P=1.    -  175.mg n.s.s.  27/44    9/28
4937 M f cf1 wat 28m28 237                           0    100.mg                                      Ponomarkov;clet,1,165-172;1976
 liv hpt e      95.2mg   P<.0005 +  65.2mg 145.mg   0/47   45/73
 lun ade e      no dre   P=1.    -  338.mg n.s.s.  15/47   21/73
 tba mix e      no dre   P=1.       93.4mg n.s.s.  45/47   65/73
4938 M m cf1 eat 26m26 89                            0    60.0mg                                         Thorpe;fctx,11,433-442;1973
 liv mix e      34.6mg   P<.0005 +  18.1mg 86.1mg  11/45   24/30
 liv lct e      174.mg   P<.006  +  70.9mg 2.46gm   2/45    8/30
 lun tum e      no dre   P=1.    -  86.7mg n.s.s.  27/45   15/30
4939 M m cf1 wat 28m28 237                           0    83.3mg                                      Ponomarkov;clet,1,165-172;1976
 liv hpt e      62.2mg   P<.0005 +  41.6mg 109.mg  12/44   77/98
 lun ade e      no dre   P=1.    -  244.mg n.s.s.  20/44   40/98
 tba mix e      132.mg   P<.4       33.0mg n.s.s.  40/44   93/98
4940 M m chh eat 55w55 1776m                         0    85.0mg                                Evans;carc,7,627-631;1986/pers.comm.
 liv esn ejkr   noTD50   P<.009  +  n.s.s. 22.6mg   0/5     5/5
 liv bsn ejkr   56.6mg   P<.5       8.26mg n.s.s.   1/5     2/5
 liv hpc ejkr   no dre   P=1.       24.5mg n.s.s.   0/5     0/5
4941 M m chh eat 65w65 1776n                         0    85.0mg
 liv esn ejkr   49.8mg   P<.0005 +  24.8mg 123.mg   0/30   11/30
 liv bsn ejkr   no dre   P=1.       68.8mg n.s.s.  12/30    8/30
 liv hpc ejkr   no dre   P=1.       205.mg n.s.s.   0/30    0/30
4942 M m chh eat 23m23 1776o                         0    85.0mg
 liv esn ejr    30.5mg   P<.0005 +  18.8mg 51.6mg   0/65   34/41
 liv bsn ejr    no dre   P=1.       143.mg n.s.s.  24/65   14/41
 liv hpc ejr    no dre   P=1.       493.mg n.s.s.   5/65    1/41
4943 M m chh eat 60w60 2186m                         0    85.0mg                               Evans;txpy,20,585-594;1992/pers.comm.
 liv esn kr     8.42mg   P<.0005 +  4.00mg 18.4mg   0/20   18/20
 liv hpc kr     184.mg   P<.1       45.2mg n.s.s.   0/20    2/20
 liv bsn kr     no dre   P=1.       52.0mg n.s.s.  10/20    5/20
4944 M m chh eat 80w80 2186o                         0    85.0mg
 liv esn kr     noTD50   P<.009  +  n.s.s. 47.7mg   0/5     5/5
 liv hpc kr     21.4mg   P<.005     5.93mg 191.mg   0/5     4/5
 liv bsn kr     no dre   P=1.       17.1mg n.s.s.   5/5     3/5
4945 M m chh eat 60w91 2186s                         0    56.0mg
 liv esn er     9.51mg   P<.0005    3.98mg 21.1mg   0/20   21/22
 liv bsn er     no dre   P=1.       80.8mg n.s.s.  16/20    8/22
 liv hpc er     no dre   P=1.       94.8mg n.s.s.  52/190   4/22
4946 M m chh eat 91w91 2186v                         0    85.0mg
 liv esn er     noTD50   P<.0005 +  n.s.s. 23.8mg   0/20   20/20
 liv hpc er     2.11gm   P<.8       179.mg n.s.s.  52/190  26/90
 liv bsn er     no dre   P=1.       104.mg n.s.s.  16/20    8/20
4947 R m cdr wat 95w95 1035                          0    50.0mg                                     Wislocki;canr,37,1883-1891;1977
 liv sad e      500.mg   P<.3       81.4mg n.s.s.   0/15    1/18
4948 R m f34 eat 95w95 1783                          0    20.0mg  60.0mg                               Imaida;canr,46,6160-6164;1986
 liv nnd        120.mg * P<.004     60.5mg 908.mg   1/42    7/42   10/42
 thy cca        31.7mg \ P<.03      13.7mg n.s.s.   9/42   19/42  (11/42)
4949 R m f34 eat 56w56 1942                          0    40.0mg                                          Diwan;txap,98,269-277;1989
 ubl tum e      no dre   P=1.    -  35.9mg n.s.s.   0/15    0/15
4950 R m f3d eat 24m24 2610                          0    .320mg  1.20mg  5.00mg  20.0mg               Hagiwara;fctx,37,869-879;1999
 liv hpc e      no dre   P=1.    -  100.mg n.s.s.   0/19    1/20    0/20    1/20    0/20
4951 R m fis eat 24m24 389                           0    39.8mg                                         Butler;bjca,37,418-423;1978
 liv hnd ev     67.3mg   P<.0005    33.6mg 177.mg   0/25   11/33
4952 R f wis wat 34m34 85                            0    28.6mg                                          Rossi;ijcn,19,179-185;1977
 liv hpt e      102.mg   P<.0005 +  48.0mg 287.mg   0/32    9/29
 tba tum e      73.1mg   P<.2       22.5mg n.s.s.  19/32   22/29
4953 R m wis wat 34m34 85                            0    25.0mg
 liv hpt e      74.3mg   P<.0005 +  38.9mg 168.mg   0/35   13/36
 tba tum e      206.mg   P<.6       35.8mg n.s.s.  19/35   22/36
Mutagenicity in Salmonella: negative
SMILES Code for Phenobarbital, sodium: C1(C2=CC=CC=C2)(C(NC(=NC1=O)[O-])=O)CC.[Na+]
InChI Code for Phenobarbital, sodium: InChI=1/C12H12N2O3.Na/c1-2-12(8-6-4-3-5-7-8)9(15)13-11(17)14-10(12)16;/h3-7H,2H2,1H3,(H2,13,14,15,16,17);/q;+1/p-1
Source for SMILES and InChI: USEPA Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database
Chemical Structure for Phenobarbital, sodium: Chemical Structure
Source for structure: National Library of Medicine ChemIDPlus

See full CPDB Summary Table on 1547 chemicals. See Full CPDB for all results on 6540 experiments of 1547 chemicals.

A complete list of CPDB chemicals, which is searchable by name or by CAS number, is available here.

For a compendium of CPDB results organized by target organ, which lists all chemicals in each species that induced tumors in each of 35 organs, see Summary Table by Target Organ.

The CPDB is available in several formats that permit printing and downloading into spreadsheets and statistical databases.

  1. A plot of the CPDB presents results of 1547 experiments on 6540 chemicals in an easily readable format that has been used in publications of the CPDB.
  2. A Screen version plot for use on a single computer screen, with the same data.
  3. Excel version of the same data.
  4. Tab-separated versions of the same data, which can be easily read into databases.

A Supplementary Dataset gives details on dosing and survival for each experiment.

Relatively precise estimates of the lower confidence limit on the TD10 (LTD10) are readily calculated from the TD50 and its lower confidence limit, which are reported in the CPDB. For researchers and regulatory agencies interested in LTD10 values, we provide them in an Excel spreadsheet.

PDF versions of our publications of analyses using the CPDB are available, organized by year and by research topic.

Carcinogenic Potency Database Project (CPDB) Home Page
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Last updated: October 3, 2007


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