IN-VITRO AND IN-VIVO STUDIES ON THE ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF DEHYDROILLUDIN-M

Six first-generation illudin analogs were tested for antitumor activit y using in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo xenograft models. One analog , dehydroilludin M, inhibited xenograft growth and prolonged life span of tumor bearing animals, when administered IP or IV whereas the pare nt Illudin S compound was ineffective The efficacy of dehydroilludin M in the MV522 lung carcinoma model exceeded that of 9 known anticancer drugs, and equaled that of mitomycin C. Dehydroilludin M retained the in vitro relative selective cytotoxicity for carcinomas and myeloid l eukemia cell lines noted with the parent illudin compounds. In vitro c ytotoxicity data predicted, response of xenografts. Dehydroilludin M a lso retained the in vitro activity of the parent compounds against dif ferent multidrug resistant mdr cell lines.