GROWTH-INHIBITION OF HUMAN GASTROINTESTINAL CANCER XENOGRAFT LINES BYTREATMENT WITH CPT-11 AND VP-16

A water-soluble and stable camptothecin derivative, CPT-11, was found to possess a strong antitumor activity against various murine tumors. In the present study, CPT-11 was tested against ten human gastrointest inal cancer xenograft lines carried by nude mice. CPT-11 was very effe ctive against nine xenograft lines, with the exception of one xenograf t. On the other hand, VP-16 was ineffective against all these xenograf t lines. Therefore, CPT-11 is expected to be clinically more effective against gastrointestinal cancer than the topo II targeting agent. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.