We have previously reported that a 28‐day treatment of carcinogens evoking target cell proliferation activates G1/S checkpoint function and apoptosis, as well as induction of aberrant ubiquitin D (Ubd) expression, suggesting disruptive spindle checkpoint function, in rats. The present study aimed to determine the onset time of rat liver cells to undergo carcinogen‐specific cell cycle aberration and proliferation. Animals were treated orally with a hepatocarcinogenic dose of methyleugenol or thioacetamide for 3, 7 or 28 days. For comparison, some animals were subjected to partial hepatectomy or treated with noncarcinogenic hepatotoxicants (acetaminophen, α‐naphthyl isothiocyanate or promethazine). Carcinogen‐specific liver cell kinetics appeared at day 28 as evident by increases of cell proliferation, p21Cip1+ cells, phosphorylated‐Mdm2+ cells and cleaved caspase 3+ cells, and upregulation of DNA damage‐related genes. Hepatocarcinogens also downregulated Rbl2 and upregulated Cdkn1a and Mdm2, and decreased Ubd+ cells co‐expressing phosphorylated‐histone H3 (p‐Histone H3) and p‐Histone H3+ cell ratio within the Ki‐67+ proliferating population. These results suggest that it takes 28 days to induce hepatocarcinogen‐specific early withdrawal of proliferating cells from M phase due to disruptive spindle checkpoint function as evidenced by reduction of Ubd+ cells staying at M phase. Disruption of G1/S checkpoint function reflected by downregulation of Rbl2 as well as upregulation of Mdm2 suggestive of sequestration of retinoblastoma protein is responsible for the facilitation of carcinogen‐induced cell proliferation at day 28. Accumulation of DNA damage probably in association with facilitation of p53 degradation by activation of Mdm2 may be a prerequisite for aberrant p21Cip1 activation, which is responsible for apoptosis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.